Reyna v. State

2001 WY 105, 33 P.3d 1129, 2001 Wyo. LEXIS 131, 2001 WL 1355685
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 6, 2001
Docket00-193
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 2001 WY 105 (Reyna v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Reyna v. State, 2001 WY 105, 33 P.3d 1129, 2001 Wyo. LEXIS 131, 2001 WL 1355685 (Wyo. 2001).

Opinion

VOIGT, Justice.

[¶ 1] At a change of plea hearing, the appellant, Joseph Reyna, pled guilty to one count of forgery, in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-8-602(a)(iii) (LexisNexis 2001), and one count of conspiracy to commit forgery, in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 6-1-803(a) and 6-3-602(a)(1) (LexisNexis 2001), both felonies. He was sentenced to consecutive terms of five to ten years on each charge. After sentencing, the district court denied the appellant's motion to withdraw his guilty pleas. This appeal is from the judgment and sentence and from the denial of the motion to withdraw his guilty pleas.

[¶ 2] We affirm.

ISSUES

[¶ 8] There are four issues presented for review:

1. Did the district court violate W.R.Cr.P. 11 in its advisement of the elements of a conspiracy?
2. Did the district court violate W.R.Cz.P. 11 in allowing the appellant to waive a presentence investigation report (PSD?
. 8. Was the appellant denied effective assistance of counsel in entering his guilty pleas?
4. Did the district court abuse its discretion in denying the appellant's motion to withdraw his guilty pleas?

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

[¶ 4] The probable cause affidavit attached to the Information filed in this case alleges that in December of 1999, the appellant and Juan Martinez forged seven checks totaling more than $10,000.00 on the account of Lowell Luebke. Upon his arrest, the appellant filed an affidavit of indigency and a public defender was appointed to represent him. It is disputed in the record whether a *1131 preliminary hearing was held or waived. 1 At any rate, the appellant was bound over for trial in the district court on both charges.

[¶ 5] At his district court arraignment, the appellant entered pleas of not guilty and moved under W.R.Cz.P. 21.1(a) for peremptory disqualification of the district judge. The case was then assigned to a different district judge. At a change of plea hearing on May 17, 2000, the appellant entered pleas of guilty to both charges and was sentenced as set forth above. The pleas were the result of a limited plea agreement in which the State's only concessions were an agreement not to file additional charges against the appellant and to proceed without a presen-tence investigation.

[¶ 6] The appellant's trial counsel filed a Notice of Appeal on June 9, 2000. During the pendency of the appeal, the appellant filed a Motion to Withdraw Plea in the district court. This Court entered an Order Granting Motion to Stay Appeal, remanding the case to the district court for resolution of that motion. The district court heard the motion on November 13, 2000, and denied it on November 80, 2000. That denial, in addition to the original judgment and sentence, is the basis for this appeal.

Dim tus District Court ViouatE W.R.CRP. 11 IN Its ADVISEMENT OF THE ELEMENTS OF A CONSPIRACY?

[¶ 7] W.R.Cr.P. 11 sets forth the procedures that must be followed for acceptance of a plea by a criminal defendant. The rule is lengthy and complex. Pertinent to the present discussion are section (b), which describes the advisements that must be given to the defendant, section (d), which requires the court to determine the voluntariness of the plea, section (e)(7), which prohibits waiver of a presentence investigation by plea agreement, section (f), which requires the court to determine the accuracy of the plea by inquiring into the factual basis, and seetion (h), which allows harmless errors to be disregarded.

[¶ 8] The appellant's first contention is that the district court's colloquy with the appellant was insufficient to establish that the pleas were voluntary or that there was a factual basis for the pleas. He relies on McCarthy v. United States, 394 U.S. 459, 467, 89 S.Ct. 1166, 22 L.Ed.2d 418 (1969) (quoting F.R.Cr.P. 11, Notes on Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules), for the proposition that the judge must determine " 'that the conduct which the defendant admits constitutes the offense charged in the indictment or information or an offense included therein to which the defendant has pleaded guilty.'" Specifically, the appellant argues that, conspiracy being a specific intent crime, it was improper for the district court to infer that element from the following exchange between the district court and the appellant:

THE COURT: Mr. Reyna, how do you plead to Counts I and II of the Information that's on file in this matter?
THE DEFENDANT: Guilty.
THE COURT: Were you in Laramie County on or about December 2 of 19997
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
THE COURT: And did you have a plan with one or more people to commit forgery?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
THE COURT: Was that person Juan Martinez?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
THE COURT: Were you also in Natro-na [sic] County on December 17 of 19997
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
THE COURT: Did you issue checks on an account that did not belong to you?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
THE COURT: Did you write checks on an account?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
*1132 THE COURT:; Was that Mr. Luebke's account?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
THE COURT: Did you have his permission to do that?
THE DEFENDANT: No.
THE COURT: Does the State accept those factual recitations?
[PROSECUTING ATTORNEY]: Yes, Your Honor. And I believe you did get in the fact that it was in Laramie County, Wyoming.
THE COURT: Do you agree with that, Mr. Reyna?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
THE COURT: On both counts?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.

[19] We have adopted the following standard of review for cases involving the acceptance of a guilty plea:

The procedure utilized to accept a guilty plea is reviewed by this court as a whole. Smith v. State, 871 P.2d 186, 187 (Wyo.1994). "Our inquiry determines if the district court sufficiently described the nature of the charges, including the possible penalties; informed the defendant of the right to representation; informed the defendant of the rights waived by a guilty plea; and obtained a factual basis for the plea." Mehring [v. State], 860 P.2d [1101] at 1106 [(Wyo.1993)] (emphasis added).

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Bluebook (online)
2001 WY 105, 33 P.3d 1129, 2001 Wyo. LEXIS 131, 2001 WL 1355685, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/reyna-v-state-wyo-2001.