McDonald v. State

141 S.W.3d 526, 2004 Mo. App. LEXIS 1248, 2004 WL 1925150
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 31, 2004
Docket25937
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 141 S.W.3d 526 (McDonald v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McDonald v. State, 141 S.W.3d 526, 2004 Mo. App. LEXIS 1248, 2004 WL 1925150 (Mo. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

*527 JOHN E. PARRISH, Presiding Judge.

George B. McDonald (movant) was convicted, following a plea of guilty, of burglary in the second degree. 1 § 569.170. 2 Mov-ant’s plea of guilty was pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement. Following incarceration, movant filed a pro se motion for post-conviction relief pursuant to Rule 24.035. Counsel was appointed and an amended motion filed. An evidentiary hearing was held and the motion denied. This court affirms the denial of movant’s Rule 24.035 motion. The case, however, is remanded to the motion court with directions.

Movant presents one point on appeal. Movant contends he was denied effective assistance of counsel in the underlying criminal case. He argues that his trial counsel was derelict in not requesting a presentence investigation report following movant’s plea of guilty. Movant argues that had a presentence investigation report been provided to the sentencing judge, there would have been “a reasonable probability that the trial court would have rejected the plea and offered [mov-ant] the opportunity to withdraw it, or would have granted probation despite the negative report, since it had taken the past record into account in imposing sentence.”

In Cupp v. State, 935 S.W.2d 367 (Mo.App.1996), the court reviewed a judgment that denied a Rule 24.035 motion directed to a conviction based on a negotiated plea agreement. Cupp explains:

Movant’s conviction was based on a negotiated plea of guilty. Any claim of ineffective assistance of counsel is immaterial except to the extent it impinges upon the voluntariness and knowledge with which the plea of guilty was made. Hagan v. State, 836 S.W.2d 459, 463 (Mo. banc 1992). In order to show ineffective assistance of counsel, movant must show his representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness and that, as a result, he was prejudiced. Id. Movant must show, but for the conduct of his trial attorney about which he complains, he would not have pleaded guilty but would have insisted on going to trial. Id. at 464.

Id. at 368.

The motion court’s findings of fact include the following regarding other criminal actions movant was facing at the time he pleaded guilty to the Jasper County offense that is the subject of this Rule 24.035 appeal.

At the time of disposition of the case in Jasper County the movant had previously appeared before The Honorable James R. Bickel, Circuit Judge of Vernon County Circuit Court, 28th Judicial Circuit at Nevada, Missouri. His appearance was on the 23rd day of July, 2002 for a probation violation. On that date Judge Bickel found the movant in violation of the terms of his probation. His probation was revoked, and, due to a previous entry of suspended imposition of sentence, the movant was sentenced to a term of seven (7) years in the Missouri Department of Corrections. He was sentenced under the provisions of Section 559.115 RSMo and ordered committed to the Institutional Treatment Center. Judge Bickel ordered him held in custody until a bed date could be obtained and then transported to the Missouri Department of Corrections thirty (30) days prior to the bed date.
*528 Evidence at the evidentiary hearing revealed that the movant also had pending charges in Newton County that required resolution prior to transport. Apparently, those charges were resolved in December, 2002, and the result was also a seven (7) year sentence in the Missouri Department of Corrections. The Newton County judgment also specified commitment under the provisions of Section 559.115 RSMo and placement in the Institutional Treatment Center.
The movant was ultimately delivered to the Missouri Department of Corrections on January 6, 2003, to commence service of the three (3) seven (7) year sentences from each jurisdiction. These seven (7) year sentences received concurrent treatment.

(Reference to exhibit omitted.)

The trial court in which movant pleaded guilty received a report from the department of corrections on March 27, 2003, regarding movant’s program participation. 3 According to movant, the report recommended that movant be denied probation. Probation was denied.

Movant’s allegation of error, as this court understands it, is that the report the trial court received from the department of corrections reported satisfactory progress by movant in that agency’s treatment program, but nevertheless recommended that probation be denied. Movant contends this recommendation was based on his record of offenses committed prior to the three offenses to which he pleaded guilty and for which he received concurrent seven-year sentences. As this court understands movant’s argument, he contends his trial counsel in his criminal case was deficient in permitting him to waive presen-tence investigation; that had a presen-tence investigation been obtained, the trial judge would have had the information on which movant asserts the recommendation that he not be granted probation was based. Movant argues this would have caused him to know he would not be recommended for probation after 120 days incarceration as permitted by § 559.115.2; that he would not, therefore, have pleaded guilty. Movant contends, for that reason, his plea of guilty was not voluntarily and knowingly entered.

The motion court, relying on Moore v. State, 39 S.W.3d 888 (Mo.App.2001), and Morrison v. State, 75 S.W.3d 893 (Mo.App.2002), concluded:

It has been consistently held “(i)n considering Rule 24.035 claims of ineffective assistance of counsel, courts must ‘view the reasonableness of counsel’s conduct from counsel’s perspective at the time and eliminate hindsight from consideration’.” Moore, 39 S.W.3d at 893 quoting Henderson v. State, 977 S.W.2d 508, 511 (Mo.App. S.D.1998). It has further been held that “ ‘scrutiny of counsel’s performance must be highly deferential,’ and this presumption serves to eliminate ‘the distorting effects of hindsight.’ ” Morrison v. State, 75 S.W.3d 893, 895 (Mo.App. S.D.2002) quoting Strickland [v. Washington], 466 U.S. [668] at 689, 104 S.Ct. [2052] at 2065, [80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984) ].

The motion court concluded that movant “failed to carry his burden of proof, and ... failed to overcome trial counsel’s presumption of competency.” It stated in its conclusions of law:

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Related

Butler v. State
557 S.W.3d 427 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2018)
Hoskins v. State
329 S.W.3d 695 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 2010)
Moore v. State
318 S.W.3d 726 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2010)
Samuel v. State
156 S.W.3d 482 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2005)

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Bluebook (online)
141 S.W.3d 526, 2004 Mo. App. LEXIS 1248, 2004 WL 1925150, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcdonald-v-state-moctapp-2004.