Spann v. State

686 N.W.2d 868, 2004 Minn. App. LEXIS 1111, 2004 WL 2162224
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedSeptember 28, 2004
DocketA04-278
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 686 N.W.2d 868 (Spann v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Spann v. State, 686 N.W.2d 868, 2004 Minn. App. LEXIS 1111, 2004 WL 2162224 (Mich. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinions

OPINION

KALITOWSKI, Judge.

As a stipulated settlement of his criminal appeal, appellant Charles Lee Spann agreed to waive his right to further appeals.- Appellant contends the district court abused its discretion in dismissing his petition for postconviction relief based on this waiver.

FACTS

In October 2000, appellant was convicted- of two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. The district court subsequently sentenced appellant to two consecutive 118-month sentences, an upward departure from the presumptive sentence of 86 months. Consecutive sentencing was permissive because appellant’s convictions resulted from his crimes against two separate victims. Represented by counsel, appellant filed an appeal to this court, challenging his convictions and sentence. Specifically, appellant argued that his convictions should be reversed because of possible juror bias, improper admission of a taped interview, and prosecutorial misconduct. .Appellant also claimed that the district court erred in imposing an upward sentencing departure.

After appellant’s brief was filed but before the state’s brief was due, the parties reached a stipulated resolution of appellant’s appeal. The state agreed to recommend to the district court a modification of appellant’s sentence to the guideline sentence of two consecutive 86-month terms. In exchange, appellant agreed to dismiss the pending appeal and waive all future appellate and postconviction review. The [870]*870parties filed with this court the written stipulation of this agreement, signed by both counsel and appellant personally, and this court dismissed appellant’s appeal on August 14, 2001. Subsequently, appellant appeared in person and with counsel before the district court, and pursuant to the parties’ stipulation, the district court re-sentenced appellant to two consecutive 86-month terms.

In May 2003, appellant filed a pro se petition for postconviction relief. Appellant subsequently retained the assistance of counsel and filed an amended petition for postconviction relief challenging the validity of his waiver of his right to appeal. The district court denied appellant’s petition for postconviction relief, on the ground that following his conviction, sentencing, and submission of an appellate brief, appellant made a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver of his right to appeal in order to obtain a known benefit.

ISSUE

Did the postconviction court abuse its discretion in denying postconviction relief after finding appellant knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived his right of appeal in exchange for a reduction in his previously imposed sentence?

ANALYSIS

Appellate courts review a post-conviction court’s findings to determine whether there is sufficient evidentiary support in the record. Dukes v. State, 621 N.W.2d 246, 251 (Minn.2001). Appellate courts give broad deference to a postcon-viction court’s findings of fact and will not reverse the findings unless they are clearly erroneous. Id. And appellate courts will not disturb a postconviction court’s decision unless the court abused its discretion. Id. “A petition for postconviction relief is a collateral attack on a judgment which carries a presumption of regularity and which, therefore, cannot be lightly set aside.” Pederson v. State, 649 N.W.2d 161, 163 (Minn.2002).

Appellant argues that as a matter of public policy a criminal defendant cannot waive his right to appeal. Whether a defendant can waive the right to appeal is a question of law, which this court reviews de novo. State v. Williams, 664 N.W.2d 432, 434 (Minn.App.2003). There is no federal constitutional right to an appeal. Id. “But in Minnesota, ‘a convicted defendant is entitled to at least one right of review by an appellate or postconviction court.’ ” Id. (quoting Hoagland v. State, 518 N.W.2d 531, 534 (Minn.1994)). A defendant may intentionally waive a known right or privilege if the waiver is knowing, intelligent, and voluntary. Ballweber v. State, 457 N.W.2d 215, 217 (Minn.App.1990). But this court has held that a criminal defendant cannot waive the right to appeal the legality of a sentence. Id. at 218.

The postconviction court noted, and the parties concede, that the issue of whether a defendant can enter negotiations and waive his right to appeal after he has been convicted, sentenced, and filed an appellate brief is one of first impression in Minnesota. No other jurisdictions have addressed this specific issue. But as generally noted in a 1995 law review article “[a] substantial majority of state and federal courts which have considered appeal waivers have upheld them against broad per se challenges.” Robert K. Calhoun, Waiver of the Right to Appeal, 23 Hastings Const. L.Q. 127,135 (1995).

We conclude that based on the recognized right of a criminal defendant to waive a known right or privilege, and the reasoning of the only two Minnesota cases that have addressed the issue of a criminal defendant’s ability to waive the right to [871]*871appeal, Balkueber and Williams, appellant has failed to show that the district court abused its discretion.

In Ballweber, the appellant' pleaded guilty to escape and the district court imposed a stayed 15-month sentence. 457 N.W.2d at 216. At the sentencing hearing, the district court asked the parties if they understood that if it turned out that 15 months was not the correct sentence, they would not be able to appeal the sentence, and both parties stated that they understood. Id. at 217. But on appeal, this court concluded that a criminal defendant cannot waive his or her right to appeal from a sentence. Id. at 218. The Ballwe-ber court reasoned that Minnesota law gives a criminal defendant an unconditional right to appeal from any sentence imposed or stayed, and, under the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines, it is the role of the court, not the prosecutor, to determine the appropriate sentence. Id. at 217. Importantly, appellant here makes no claim that his modified sentence is not legal, or that it violates the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines.

In Williams, this court upheld the appellant’s waiver of his right to raise certain issues on appeal. 664 N.W.2d at 434. Williams was charged with third-degree driving while impaired, fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle, and carrying a weapon without a valid permit. Id. at 433. At trial, the parties agreed that the state would drop the weapons charge and appellant would not raise on appeal any issues concerning the admission of the pistol’s magazines. Id. The jury found the appellant guilty of the other two offenses, and the appellant filed an appeal contending that the waiver violated public policy and that the district court abused its discretion in admitting the magazines. Id.

In upholding the appellant’s waiver, the Williams court noted that Williams did “not dispute that his waiver of the right to appeal, was knowing, intelligent, and voluntary.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Spann v. State
704 N.W.2d 486 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2005)
Spann v. State
686 N.W.2d 868 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2004)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
686 N.W.2d 868, 2004 Minn. App. LEXIS 1111, 2004 WL 2162224, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/spann-v-state-minnctapp-2004.