State v. Davis

582 S.W.2d 342, 1979 Mo. App. LEXIS 2838
Missouri Court of Appeals·Decided May 9, 1979·No. No. 39044·Published·Cited by 10 cases

Opinion

SMITH, Judge.

Defendant appeals from his conviction by a jury of four counts of first degree robbery. Defendant was tried under the second offender act and sentenced to three concurrent ten year terms on the first three counts and a fifty year consecutive term on the fourth count.

No contention is raised that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict so only a short factual statement is required. At approximately 11 a. m. on July 11, 1975 three men robbed a Tennessee Jed’s restaurant on Lindberg in Frontenac. Two of the men carried sawed-off shotguns, the third may have had a pistol. Defendant was identified as one of the robbers. Following arrest on another charge, defendant made some inculpatory statements, both oral and written, and took policemen to a house in Wellston where a sawed-off shotgun was found in a location described by defendant. Further discussion of defendant’s statements will be made subsequently.

Defendant’s first contention is that he was denied due process because the sentence imposed on Count IV exceeded the sentence he would have received had he pled guilty. After hearings on certain pretrial motions plea bargaining negotiations were conducted between counsel for defendant and the State. Following these negotiations a discussion occurred between counsel and the court. The court indicated that if defendant entered a plea of guilty the court would sentence him in accordance with the recommendation of the State. The recommendation of the State would be fifteen years on each of five counts (the four here involved and one other still pending) to run concurrently. Defendant opted to go to trial.

During the trial, following several requests by defense counsel, the court advised counsel that based upon testimony he had heard and having been advised that defendant had several prior felony convictions, if defendant was convicted and sentencing was up to the court defendant would receive “a substantial amount of time . more than recommended.” The court also advised counsel that the time for such determination had not arrived, that the court could give no definite length of sentence at that time, and that the sentence “would be in accordance with the evidence and all of his background.”

Following conviction the court assessed the sentences set out above. We attach as an appendix hereto the colloquy between defense counsel and the court following sentencing.

In North Carolina, v. Pearce, 395 U.S. 711, 89 S.Ct. 2072, 23 L.Ed.2d 656 (1969), Blackledge v. Perry, 417 U.S. 21, 94 S.Ct. 2098, 40 L.Ed.2d 628 (1974), and United States v. Jackson, 390 U.S. 570, 88 S.Ct. 1209, 20 L.Ed.2d 138 (1968) the United States Supreme Court held that it was a denial of due process to enhance or threaten to enhance a defendant’s punishment to prevent him from exercising a constitutional right. But the doctrine of those cases has been expressly held not applicable to cases involving plea-bargaining. Bordenkircher v. Hayes, 434 U.S. 357, 98 S.Ct. 663, 54 L.Ed.2d 604 (1978), Corbitt v. New Jersey, 439 U.S. 212, 99 S.Ct. 492, 58 L.Ed.2d 466 (1978). In the latter cases it is recognized that in the “give-and-take” of plea bargaining, concessions are made by the prosecutor and leniency is granted by the court in exchange for the plea.

“There is no doubt that those homicide defendants who are willing to plead non vult may be treated more leniently than those who go to trial, but withholding the [344] possibility of leniency from the latter cannot be equated with impermissible punishment as long as our cases sustaining plea bargaining remain undisturbed.” Corbitt v. New Jersey, supra, 439 U.S. .212, l.c. 223, 99 S.Ct. 492, l.c. 500, 58 L.Ed.2d 466, l.c. 477.

Missouri has also recognized the propriety of plea bargaining. Schellert v. State, 569 S.W.2d 735 (Mo. banc 1978). While judicial participation in the bargaining itself is not approved (State v. Tyler, 440 S.W.2d 470 (Mo. banc 1969) [4-7]) indication of the judge’s willingness to accept a particular disposition is not improper (Bonner v. State, 535 S.W.2d 289 (Mo.App.1976) [8]) and in fact the court must advise the defendant of its intention to reject the bargained for recommendation, Schellert v. State, supra, [5]. It is therefore apparent that, without more, a judge’s willingness to accept a bargained for disposition does not establish that his subsequent refusal to grant leniency after trial constitutes an unconstitutional denial of due process by punishing defendant for exercising his right to trial.

Nor does the record here support a contention that in this case the court enhanced punishment as a penalty for going to trial. The court pointed out its reasons for assessing the punishment it did and the consideration it made of the offenses committed as well as defendant’s background. Defendant points to the first sentence of the court’s last statement at the sentencing hearing — “I would rather that such is the situation” — as indicating that the court was utilizing higher sentences to coerce waiver of jury trials. We cannot attribute to the statement that meaning. It is ambiguous on its face and when read with the remainder of the court’s comment clearly indicates that the court was stating that it makes its sentencing decisions on the basis of all the facts before it. We find no error in the sentencing.

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State v. Davis, 582 S.W.2d 342, 1979 Mo. App. LEXIS 2838 (Mo. Ct. App. 1979).

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