State v. Collins

542 A.2d 1131, 207 Conn. 590, 1988 Conn. LEXIS 131
CourtSupreme Court of Connecticut
DecidedMay 24, 1988
Docket13191
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 542 A.2d 1131 (State v. Collins) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Connecticut primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Collins, 542 A.2d 1131, 207 Conn. 590, 1988 Conn. LEXIS 131 (Colo. 1988).

Opinion

Glass, J.

This is an appeal, after a grant of certification, from a judgment of the Appellate Court reversing a conviction and remanding the matter for a new [592]*592trial, because the trial court erred in denying the defendant’s motions to withdraw his guilty pleas, despite his attorney's admittedly incorrect advice given prior to these pleas. We granted the state’s petition for certification limited to the issues of whether the Appellate Court erred in: (1) concluding that an unpreserved claim that the defendant was not advised of minimum and nonsuspendable minimum sentences as specified by Practice Book § 711 (2) and (3) is reviewable under State v. Evans, 165 Conn. 61, 327 A.2d 576 (1973); (2) remanding the case for an evidentiary hearing on the question of whether the defendant was actually aware of the minimum and nonsuspendable minimum sentences; and (3) setting aside the judgments of conviction without making a determination that the defendant’s claim that he was unaware of the minimum and nonsuspendable minimum sentences, as specified in Practice Book § 711 (2) and (3), affected his rights as they pertained to the plea bargain to which he had agreed. We also granted the defendant’s motion to submit alternate grounds upon which the judgment of the Appellate Court may be affirmed. These grounds are that: (1) the trial court erred in denying the defendant’s motion to withdraw his guilty pleas made prior to sentencing when the defendant had been misinformed regarding the computation of good time upon the plea bargained sentence; and (2) the trial court erred in refusing to allow the defendant to withdraw his guilty pleas when it did not sentence him in accordance with the terms of the plea agreement. We reverse the judgment of the Appellate Court.

Although the undisputed facts are fully set forth in State v. Collins, 10 Conn. App. 659, 525 A.2d 135 (1987), we summarize those facts pertinent to this appeal. On July 25,1984, at the Superior Court for the judicial district of Stamford-Norwalk, the defendant entered guilty pleas to four counts of robbery in the [593]*593first degree. On July 27, 1984, at the Superior Court for the judicial district of Fairfield, the defendant entered guilty pleas to one count of robbery in the first degree and two counts of reckless endangerment. On August 3, 1984, at the Superior Court in the judicial district of Ansonia-Milford, the defendant entered a guilty plea to one count of robbery in the first degree. In each case the trial court canvassed the defendant and then accepted the plea. The defendant was informed in each case by the trial court that his plea and agreed sentence was a component of one overall agreement providing for a total effective maximum sentence of seventeen years of incarceration, with the defendant having the right at sentencing to argue for a lesser sentence. The defendant did not express any misunderstanding regarding the sentence for each charge or the total effective sentence of seventeen years of incarceration.

Immediately before sentencing in the StamfordNorwalk and Fairfield judicial districts, the defendant moved to withdraw his guilty pleas on the ground that his attorney had incorrectly advised him regarding the computation of good time for the seventeen year sentence.1 The defendant’s attorney had told him that with [594]*594time off for good behavior, he would spend less than ten years in prison in serving the total effective sentence of seventeen years. Contrary to what his attorney had told him, the defendant argued that with good time credit, a seventeen year sentence would result in twelve years and four months of incarceration. The defendant’s motions were denied.

The defendant appealed to the Appellate Court from the judgments rendered in the Stamford-Norwalk and Fairfield judicial districts claiming that: (1) in both cases the trial court erred when, prior to accepting his guilty pleas, it failed to inform him of the minimum sentences for each of the crimes with which he was charged, as required by Practice Book § 711;2 (2) in both cases the trial court erred in failing to allow the defendant to withdraw his guilty pleas when he was misinformed by his attorney about the computation of good time on the plea bargained sentences he received; and (8) the trial court erred in refusing to allow the defendant to withdraw his guilty plea in the Ansonia-Milford judicial district when the court did not sentence him in accordance with the plea agreement. The Appellate Court found error in the refusal to grant the defendant’s motions to withdraw his guilty pleas, on the first of these claims, [595]*595and because of that determination did not consider the implications to be drawn from a guilty plea that is based upon misinformation about good time credits. After certification by this court, this appeal from the Appellate Court judgment ensued.

The state’s primary claim is that the Appellate Court erred in concluding that an unpreserved claim that the defendant was not advised of the minimum and nonsuspendable minimum sentences as specified by Practice Book § 711 (2) and (3) is reviewable under State v. Evans, supra. In Evans, we held that we would review a claim of error not properly preserved in the trial court under “exceptional circumstances.” Id., 69. An exceptional circumstance “may arise where the record adequately supports a claim that a litigant has clearly been deprived of a fundamental constitutional right and a fair trial.” Id., 70. We find that the Appellate Court properly invoked the Evans bypass doctrine, but not with respect to the failure to comply with Practice Book § 711 (2) and (3). See State v. Wright, 207 Conn. 276, 289, 542 A.2d 299 (1988) (“the trial court’s omission in failing to advise the defendant of the mandatory minimum sentences did not implicate constitutional rights”).

The essential constitutional requirements for the acceptance of a plea of guilty have been established by the United States Supreme Court. “Several federal constitutional rights are involved in a waiver that takes place when a plea of guilty is entered in a state criminal trial. First, is the privilege against compulsory self-incrimination guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment and applicable to the states by reason of the Fourteenth. Malloy v. Hogan, 378 U.S. 1 [84 S. Ct. 1489, 12 L. Ed. 2d 653 (1963)]. Second, is the right to a trial by jury. Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 145 [88 S. Ct. 1444, 20 L. Ed. 2d 491 (1968)]. Third, is the right to confront one’s accusers. Pointer v. Texas, 380 U.S. 400 [85 S. [596]*596Ct. 1065, 13 L. Ed. 2d 923 (1965)]. We cannot presume a waiver of these three important federal rights from a silent record.” Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238, 243, 89 S. Ct. 1709, 23 L. Ed. 2d 274 (1969). The Boykin constitutional essentials for the acceptance of a plea of guilty are included in our rules and are reflected in Practice Book § 711.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
542 A.2d 1131, 207 Conn. 590, 1988 Conn. LEXIS 131, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-collins-conn-1988.