SONNIER v. STATE

2014 OK CR 13, 334 P.3d 948, 2014 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 12, 2014 WL 4656512
Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma·Decided September 17, 2014·No. F-2013-905·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinion

SUMMARY OPINION

SMITH, Vice Presiding Judge.

T1 Andrea Lynn Sonnier pled guilty to Count I, Possession of a Controlled Dangerous Substance in violation of 63 0.8.2011, § 2-402; and Count II, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia in violation of 63 00.98.2011, § 2-405. in the District Court of Tulsa County, Case No. CF-2011-2148. Pursuant to a plea agreement, Sonnier received a deferred sentence of two (2) years on both counts, concurrent, with supervision by the Tulsa County District Attorney's Office. On April 25, 2012, the State filed an application to accelerate judgment and sentence, based on crimes alleged to have been committed in Tulsa County Case No. CF-2012-1757. On July 16, 2012, Sonnier executed a confession of the application to accelerate, admitting the State could prove the allegations in the application. Sentencing was passed to offer Son-nier an opportunity to complete the Women in Recovery (WIR) program. At a hearing on August 1, 2018, Sonnier was terminated from the WIR program, and the Honorable Kurt G. Glasseo sentenced Sonnier to four (4) years imprisonment (Count I), and one (1) year imprisonment in the county jail (Count II), to run concurrently with one another and consecutively with Sonnier's sentences in CF-2012-1757. Sonnier appeals from this acceleration of her deferred sentences under Rule 1.2(D)(5)(b), Rules of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, Title 22, Ch.18, App. (2014).

T2 Sonnier raises three propositions of error in support of her appeal:

1. Trial counsel failed to subject the State's case to any meaningful adversarial testing thereby constructively depriving Son-nier of counsel as mandated by the U.S. Const. amend. XIV, and the Okla. Const. art. 2, §§ 7 and 20.

II. The trial court plainly erred in terminating Sonnier from Women in Recovery without first offering to hold an adversarial evidentiary hearing consistent with due process standards guaranteed to probationers by the State and Federal Constitutions.

III. The trial court violated the separation of powers provision of the Oklahoma Constitution, art. 4, § 1 by delegating to Women in Recovery the authority to establish rules and conditions of probation.

T3 After thorough consideration of the entire record before us, including the original record, transcripts, exhibits and briefs, we find that the law and evidence do not require relief.

T4 We find in Proposition I that plea counsel was not ineffective. Sonnier must show that counsel's performance was deficient and that she was prejudiced by counsel's deficient performance. Wiley v. State, 2008 OK CR 30, ¶ 4, 199 P.3d 877, 878; Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2064, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). Counsel's acts or omissions must have been *950 so serious that she was deprived of a fair trial with reliable results. Harrington v. Richter, 562 U.S. 86, 181 S.Ct. 770, 787-88, 178 LEd.2d 624 (2011). We review counsel's performance against an objective standard of reasonableness under prevailing professional norms, and we will not second-guess strategic decisions. Harris v. State, 2007 OK CR 28, ¶39, 164 P.3d 1103, 1118; Rompilla v. Beard, 545 U.S. 374, 380-81, 125 S.Ct. 2456, 2462, 162 L.Ed.2d 360 (2005). For the Court to reach Sonnier's claims of deficient performance, she must show she was prejudiced by counsel's acts or omissions. Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362, 394, 120 S.Ct. 1495, 1513, 146 LEd.2d 389 (2000), Strickland, 466 U.S. at 693, 104 S.Ct. at 2067. This proposition turns on the success of Proposition II. We find in Proposition II that Sonnier had no right to a judicial due process hearing on her termination from WIR. Therefore, trial counsel cannot have been ineffective in failing to prepare properly for such a hearing.

* (15 We find in Proposition II that Sonnier was not denied due process of law when she was terminated from the WIR program. She did not raise this below and has waived all but plain error. Plain error is an actual error, that is plain or obvious, and that affects a defendant's substantial rights, affecting the outcome of the trial. Barnard v. State, 2012 OK CR 15, ¶13, 290 P.3d 759, 764. Given the constitutional nature of the claim, we must decide whether any error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Miller v. State, 2018 OK CR 11, ¶ 106, 313 P.3d 934, 971-72; Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 24, 87 S.Ct. 824, 828, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967).

T6 Sonnier confessed the acceleration of her deferred sentence in this case, No. CF-2011-2148, and entered a blind plea of guilty in No. CF-2012-1757. In both cases sentencing was passed for her to try to sue-cessfully complete the Women in Recovery program. In both cases, there was an understanding that Sonnier would go to prison if she did not complete WIR, but at the time of each plea there was no specific sentence recommended or imposed. This case turns on the nature of Sonnier's participation in WIR. Sonnier compares WIR to drug court, mental health court, probation revocation hearings, and acceleration hearings. She argues that WIR is like drug court, and drug court is like deferred sentencing, so WIR is like deferred sentencing. Thus, she claims, she should be afforded the protections required on a deferred sentence, including notice of the reasons for her termination and an opportunity to contest those reasons. This Court has held that a defendant who is terminated from participating in a diversionary program is entitled to due process. Tate v. State, 2013 OK CR 18, ¶20, 318 P.3d 274, 280-81; Alexander v. State, 2002 OK CR 23, ¶8, 48 P.3d 110, 112-18. This includes termination from drug court or mental health court, or the acceleration of a deferred sentence. Tate, 2013 OK CR 18, ¶20, 313 P.3d at 280-81.

T7 This comparison is misleading. When Sonnier entered a guilty plea and confessed the acceleration of her deferred sentence in these cases, she did not receive a deferred sentence in either case. In both cases, the trial court accepted Sonnier's plea of guilty and confession to acceleration (finding her guilty of the charged crime and allegation supporting acceleration), and simply passed the sentencing proceedings. Sonnier was not put on probation, nor was completion of WIR made a condition of her release. She did sign a standard document stating rules and conditions of pretrial release, in order to receive electronic monitoring through the court services system. In neither case do the conditions of pretrial release mention WIR; the electronic monitoring agreement in each case does state that WIR will pay the cost of monitoring. Furthermore, in this case, CF-2011-2148, Sonnier's confession of acceleration explicitly states: "pass to get into WIR, or sentencing by et [sic] if passed out of WIR due to pregnancy or any other reason."

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SONNIER v. STATE, 2014 OK CR 13, 334 P.3d 948, 2014 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 12, 2014 WL 4656512 (Okla. Ct. App. 2014).

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