State of West Virginia v. Virgil Eugene Shrader

765 S.E.2d 270, 234 W. Va. 381, 2014 W. Va. LEXIS 1147
CourtWest Virginia Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 30, 2014
Docket13-1266
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 765 S.E.2d 270 (State of West Virginia v. Virgil Eugene Shrader) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering West Virginia Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State of West Virginia v. Virgil Eugene Shrader, 765 S.E.2d 270, 234 W. Va. 381, 2014 W. Va. LEXIS 1147 (W. Va. 2014).

Opinions

WORKMAN, Justice:

This case is before the Court upon the Petitioner’s, Virgil Eugene Shrader’s, appeal of the November 15, 2013, Order of the Circuit Court of Mercer County, West Virginia, which rescinded the Petitioner’s probationary period due to a violation of one of the conditions and sentenced the Petitioner to a term of one to five years in the penitentiary for first degree sexual abuse. After considering the parties’ briefs and oral arguments, the appendix record, and all other matters before the Court, we find that the circuit court erred in rescinding the Petitioner’s probationary period based upon its determination that the Petitioner failed to comply with the conditions of his probation.1 We remand the case for further proceedings in which the terms of the plea agreement entered into between the parties and accepted by the circuit court are specifically performed, including allowing the Petitioner to withdraw [384]*384his nolo contendere plea, requiring the State to dismiss all the chai’ges against the Petitioner in Case No. 08-F-117, as well as the entry of an order discharging the Petitioner from custody.

I. Facts and Proceedings Below

The Petitioner was arrested on May .28, 2007,2 and indicted on February 8, 2009, for twelve counts of sexual assault, sexual abuse and sexual abuse by a custodian or person of position of trust to a child.3

The Petitioner and the State entered into a written plea agreement,4 in which the Petitioner agreed to enter a nolo contendere or no contest plea5 to one count of sexual abuse in the first degree.6 In exchange for this plea, the State agreed to dismiss all the remaining counts in the indictment. Further, the Petitioner and the State agreed that “the Court shall defer any adjudication of guilt for a period of time and under such conditions as may be set by the Court which shall inelude[,j but not be limited to[,] ...” the Petitioner undergoing “a sexual offender psychiatric evaluation by an appropriate mental health professional selected or approved by the State[,]” and the Petitioner abiding “by such treatment recommendations as may be contained in said evaluation^]”7 According to the terms of the agreement, “[i]f the Defendant successfully completes the terms and conditions ... then the State agrees to join the Defendant in a motion to withdraw this plea and dismiss all charges in the subject indictment against him.” If, however, the Petitioner failed to “successfully complete the terms and conditions” of the agreement, “the Court will schedule a pre-sentence investigation of Defendant and sentence him accordingly.” Thus, the terms of the agreement provided that “[i]f the Defendant does not successfully complete the terms of this agreement and is adjudged guilty, then he will be subject to register as a ‘sexual offender.’” Further, the agreement provided that “the Defendant’s adjudication of guilt or no contest under this plea will be [385]*385deferred until the Defendant’s successful completion of the terms or the Court’s determination that Defendant violated the terms and conditions •... whichever] occurs first.” Finally, the agreement provided that the Petitioner did not have to register as a “sexual offender” unless and until a final adjudication of guilty under this plea.8

On February 17, 2009, the circuit court held a plea hearing. During the hearing, the Petitioner stated that he was pleading no contest to one count of first degree sexual abuse. The circuit court confirmed that it was going to “defer any adjudication of guilt.”

On February 27, 2009, the circuit court held a status hearing in which two issues were addressed. First, the circuit court found that the Petitioner would not have to register as a sex offender because he had not yet been adjudicated guilty. Second, the circuit court was presented with a sexual offender psychiatric evaluation by a mental health provider who recommended that the Petitioner receive treatment. A problem had arisen, however, regarding the treatment. To that end, the probation officer in charge of supervising the Petitioner had scheduled an appointment for him with Jason New-some, who was director of clinical services at Family Counseling Connection (hereinafter referred to as “the Day Report Center”). Mr. Newsome was present at the status hearing. He told the circuit court that while a conviction was not necessary to be considered for his treatment program, there had to be some admission of guilt. According to Mr. Newsome, the Petitioner had denied that he had committed any inappropriate sexual acts toward the alleged victim in the ease. The circuit court stated to the Petitioner’s counsel: “So your client basically is already in default.” The Petitioner’s counsel disagreed. The prosecuting attorney also disagreed that the Petitioner violated the conditions of the plea agreement. Instead, the prosecutor stated:

I feel very responsible, because I recommended Mr. Newsome, believing that he could get — there are programs that — there are programs where you do not have to admit, where you can go and try — I think you found one in Abingdon [, Va.,]_ I just thought Mr. Newsome was closer and recommended him. But, I mean, I’m not insisting that this is the person he go to, just that he be in a program.

The circuit court questioned whether the plea was appropriate, stating “if he wants to deny it, [that] he hadn’t done anything wrong, maybe we ought to go all the way back and have a trial.” The circuit court indicated that it “can’t accept a plea bargain agreement that carries these things in it [referring to a treatment program] that he cannot abide by from the start and he’s doomed to fail. I mean, that would be unfair of me to do that.” The circuit court then allowed the parties time a couple of weeks “to determine what’s going to happen.”

On March 13, 2009, the circuit court revisited the issue in a second plea hearing. This hearing was necessitated by the revised plea agreement letter dated February 20, 2009. See supra note 4. During this hearing, the parties agreed upon and the circuit court approved the Petitioner to undergo a sexual offender evaluation as well as treatment, if recommended, with William Brezinski, M.Á., a psychologist. The choice of Mr. Brezinski was based upon him being able to treat the Petitioner without requiring that the Petitioner admit guilt as a sex offender.

On June 9, 2009, there was another status hearing in which the parties informed the circuit court that the Petitioner had undergone a sex offender evaluation by Mr. Brez-inski and had been in treatment with the psychologist since the evaluation. The circuit court, by order dated the same day, provided that “the defendant continue his counseling with William Brez[i]nski, M.A., until deemed unnecessary by said counselor.”

The Petitioner was treated by Mr. Brezin-ski for almost two years. During the April 18, 2011, status hearing, the parties informed the circuit court the Petitioner had completed the treatment recommended by Mr. Brez-inski. The circuit court ultimately found, [386]*386based upon Mr. Brezinski’s report, that the Petitioner “ha[d] been fully compliant and had completed his sexual offender counseling ...

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
765 S.E.2d 270, 234 W. Va. 381, 2014 W. Va. LEXIS 1147, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-west-virginia-v-virgil-eugene-shrader-wva-2014.