Rowe v. State

498 S.W.2d 322, 1973 Tenn. LEXIS 460
CourtTennessee Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 20, 1973
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 498 S.W.2d 322 (Rowe v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Tennessee Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rowe v. State, 498 S.W.2d 322, 1973 Tenn. LEXIS 460 (Tenn. 1973).

Opinion

OPINION

HUMPHREYS, Justice.

Mr. C. Hayes Cooney, Assistant Attorney General, has made a statement of the case which we find to he fair and accurate and which we adopt, as follows:

“On August 30, 1972, the Petitioner, Ernest Dean Rowe, filed this petition for writ of error coram nobis in the Circuit Court of Marshall County, Tennessee through retained counsel alleging that on March 10, 1972, he was convicted upon a plea of guilty of the offense of incest in the Circuit Court of Marshall County, Tennessee and sentenced to confinement for not less than five (5) nor more than ten (10) years in the State penitentiary. That this guilty plea was entered through privately retained counsel and that at the same time a waiver of trial by jury and waiver of appeal was entered in the trial court. Petitioner acknowledged that the said retained counsel was a competent criminal defense attorney.
“That he did not complain of any error in law and that the facts as they appear in the record support the said conviction. He alleged that the facts upon which said judgment was based, were, through no fault of his own or that of counsel, not correct and that the truth was not brought to the trial court’s attention. That the reason for said mis[323]*323take was the acts of his wife and daughter, as reflected in their affidavits attached to the petition, namely, that at the time of said indictment he and his wife were experiencing marital difficulties and that his minor daughter, the alleged victim, blamed him because her mother had blamed him. That both his said daughter and his wife were now willing to testify that the accusations against him were not true. That neither his wife nor his daughter testified at the time he entered his guilty plea but his daughter was listed as a witness before the grand jury which indicted him. That he had only an eighth grade education, suffered emotional distress and nervous disorder at the time of the entry of his guilty plea, and that faced with the possible testimony of his wife and daughter at a trial, he accepted the settlement offer conveyed by his privately retained counsel and plead guilty to incest. He prayed that his conviction be reversed and nullified or that a new trial be ordered. The Defendant, State of Tennessee, on September 25, 1972, filed a motion to dismiss his petition on the grounds that (1) the Petitioner’s aforesaid guilty plea and waivers of jury trial and appeal were knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily entered with the advice of privately retained counsel; (2) that the Petitioner at the hearing upon his guilty plea with the advice of retained counsel stipulated that he did have unlawful carnal knowledge of his daughter, who was then twelve years of age; and (3) that the alleged error of material fact raised herein could have been raised at the trial of the Petitioner’s case and there was no allegation that he was prevented from raising it through no fault of his own or had no notice thereof other than through no fault of his own. The matter came on to be heard before the Honorable Robert J. Parkes, Judge, on November 13, 1972, upon the petition and motion at which time the same was dismissed without the presentation of any evidence on the ground that the issue herein involved could have been raised by the Petitioner at the trial of his case had he not plead guilty.”

Rowe has filed two assignments of error, which make the proposition that the trial court erred in dismissing the petition on the ground that it was barred by reason of the guilty plea.

Although no evidence was taken in this case, petitioner Rowe did file a purported bill of exceptions containing the colloquy of counsel and the court at this hearing, together with a transcript of the proceedings in the Marshall Circuit Court at the time Rowe pleaded guilty. While we find nothing to aid us in the colloquy portion of the purported bill of exceptions, we do find the transcript of the proceedings to be helpful. And, since this transcript was tendered by the petitioner and filed with the clerk, and bears the certificate of the official criminal court reporter, and the authentication of the circuit judge, Robert J. Parkes, we shall treat it, not as part of a bill of exceptions, but, as a part of the record. This transcript shows that the following occurred at the time Rowe pleaded guilty:

“THE COURT:
Now, the Attorney General says that you want to enter a plea of Guilty to Incest — is this correct?
“MR. HAYWOOD:
That’s correct, sir.
“THE COURT:
You all have agreed upon a sentence of five to ten?
“MR. HAYWOOD:
Yes, sir.
“THE COURT:
Mr. Rowe, the Attorney General and your counsel advise me that you want to enter a Plea of Guilty to Incest in this case Number 5500, and they have agreed upon a sentence of not less than five nor [324]*324more than ten years. You understand that you have a right to a jury trial?
“DEFENDANT ROWE:
Yes, sir.
“THE COURT:
And for them to decide whether you are guilty or not, and if they found you guilty, they would set punishment ?
“DEFENDANT ROWE:
Yes, sir.
“THE COURT:
And if they found you guilty, you would have a right to an appeal of your case. But, if you enter a plea of Guilty to Incest in this case as I am advised that you want to do, you would be waiving those rights — do you understand that?
“DEFENDANT ROWE:
Yes, sir.
“THE COURT:
Understanding that then, do you desire to enter a plea of Guilty of Incest in this case?
“DEFENDANT ROWE:
Yes, sir.
“THE COURT:
What are the facts, gentlemen? Can there be some sort of a stipulation for the record, that you gentlemen can agree upon as to what the facts are ?
(No answer by' Attorney Haywood or Attorney General Kidd).
“BY THE COURT:
General, can you have some stipulation as to the facts in (this case ? He’s pleading Guilty to Incest — did he have carnal knowledge, I believe, with his daughter ?
“GENERAL KIDD:
Yes, Your Honor, when, this took place she was a minor.
“THE COURT:
Can this be stipulated, Mr. Haywood? “ATTORNEY HAYWOOD:
Yes, Your Honor.
“THE COURT:
Mr. Haywood, do you want to say anything before I pronounce sentence, or Mr. Rowe — either one of you?
“MR. HAYWOOD:
No, sir, I don’t. We are just going to put the matter of the six months in the Order.
“THE COURT:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
498 S.W.2d 322, 1973 Tenn. LEXIS 460, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rowe-v-state-tenn-1973.