Peterson v. State

988 P.2d 109, 1999 Alas. App. LEXIS 61, 1999 WL 521696
CourtCourt of Appeals of Alaska
DecidedJuly 23, 1999
DocketA-6889
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 988 P.2d 109 (Peterson v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Alaska primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Peterson v. State, 988 P.2d 109, 1999 Alas. App. LEXIS 61, 1999 WL 521696 (Ala. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

OPINION

MANNHEIMER, Judge.

Alaska Criminal Rule 11(c)(4) declares that, when a defendant offers to plead guilty or no contest to a sex offense listed in AS 12.63.100, a judge must not accept the plea until the judge has informed the defendant, personally and in writing, of the requirements of Alaska’s sex offender registration act, AS 12.63.010-100. This case involves a defendant who pleaded no contest to a sex offense and was convicted and sentenced based on that plea. In violation of Criminal Rule 11(c)(4), the judge who accepted the defendant’s plea did not warn the defendant about sex offender registration. The question is whether the defendant can now withdraw his plea because of this violation of Rule 11.

We conclude that if the defendant was not otherwise aware of the sex offender registration requirement, and if the defendant would not have entered his plea had he known of this requirement, then the defendant is entitled to withdraw his plea. Because these issues of fact remain undecided in Peterson’s case, we remand this ease to the superior *112 court so'that the court can investigate the circumstances surrounding Peterson’s decision to enter his plea.

Synopsis of the Proceedings

In July 1994, William Peterson, Jr. was indicted for first-degree sexual assault for engaging in unconsented-to sexual penetration with a woman in Mountain Village. Following plea negotiations, the State reduced the charge to second-degree sexual assault. 1 In October, Superior Court Judge Dale O. Curda accepted Peterson’s plea of no contest to this reduced charge. Peterson was later sentenced to 6 years’ imprisonment with 4 years suspended (2 years to serve).

In August 1996, Peterson filed a motion to withdraw his plea. He relied on four claims of error. First, Peterson asserted that Judge Curda, when he accepted Peterson’s plea, violated Criminal Rule 11(c)(4) by failing to warn Peterson about his duty to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison. Second, Peterson asserted that he was denied his right of allocution at sentencing. Third, Peterson asserted that he had not understood the elements of the offense. And fourth, Peterson claimed that he received ineffective assistance of counsel.

The superior court denied Peterson’s application, based on the pleadings. Peterson now appeals.

Preliminary Issues

Before reaching the issue of the superior court’s failure to warn Peterson about sex offender registration, we briefly address Peterson’s other claims.

Peterson alleges that he was denied his right of allocution at sentencing. The record shows that this claim is meritless.

At sentencing, after the prosecutor and the defense attorney finished their arguments, Judge Curda asked Peterson if he wished to speak. The following exchange ensued:

Peterson: (Inaudible)
The Court: Is there anything you would like to relay to [your attorney] that (indiscernible)?
Peterson: (Indiscernible)
[Whispered conversation between Peterson and his attorney.]
Defense Attorney: As Your Honor understands, it’s very difficult for individuals to speak in court. But Mr. Peterson has asked me to relay to the court ... the effect that having gone through this case has had on him. I mean, his commitment, his commitment to not get into any trouble ..., and the amount that he’s learned from this case. That he wants to express that, he’s just finding it, you know, very, but he wanted me to say that for him.
The Court: Okay.
Defense Attorney: [And] that he’s very sincere about that, that the court will not— will never see him again.
The Court: Okay. Thank you.

Thus, the record demonstrates that Peterson was offered the opportunity to speak and that he exercised that opportunity, choosing to have his lawyer act as his spokesman.

As part of his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, Peterson alleges that, during the whispered conversation, his attorney actually told him that “it was not a good time to argue and tell his side.” However, Peterson never presented an affidavit from his trial attorney addressing this claim. The superior court could therefore disregard Peterson’s assertion. 2

The existing record shows that Peterson’s attorney addressed the court at Peterson’s request, articulating Peterson’s thoughts about his experience in the criminal justice system and his resolve to be rehabilitated. Peterson made no comments at the sentencing hearing to contradict his attorney or to suggest that he did not endorse this method of allocution.

Peterson’s next claim is that, when he pleaded no contest to second-degree sexual assault, he did not understand the elements of the crime. Again, the record belies Peter *113 son’s claim. At the change-of-plea hearing, Judge Curda spoke directly to Peterson and explained the charge:

The Court: The reduced charge here, ... Mr. Peterson, alleges that on or about the 19th day of July, 1994, at or near Mountain Village, ... you did knowingly engage in sexual [penetration] with another person, E.Q., who [you] knew was incapacitated .... Do you understand that reduced charge, Mr. Peterson?
Peterson: Yes, I do.

On appeal, Peterson argues that later events should have alerted Judge Curda to the need to question Peterson again about the elements of the charge. Specifically, Peterson points out that, in his statement to the pre-sentence investigator, Peterson expressly contended that he was innocent and had done nothing wrong. Peterson argues that, because he protested his factual innocence to the pre-sentence investigator, it should have been obvious that he did not understand the nature of the charge to which he had pleaded no contest.

This does not follow. Under Alaska law, a defendant has the right to plead no contest to a criminal charge even though the defendant simultaneously maintains his factual innocence. 3 Peterson was indicted for first-degree sexual assault, an unclassified felony. Even if he believed himself totally innocent of wrongdoing, it would not be inconsistent for Peterson to conclude that his interests would be furthered if he pleaded no contest to a lesser charge.

In Walsh v. State 4 , this court decided that a trial judge should not have accepted a guilty plea from a defendant who maintained his innocence. But the defendant in Walsh

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Bluebook (online)
988 P.2d 109, 1999 Alas. App. LEXIS 61, 1999 WL 521696, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/peterson-v-state-alaskactapp-1999.