State v. Morant

536 A.2d 605, 13 Conn. App. 378, 1988 Conn. App. LEXIS 34
Connecticut Appellate Court·Decided February 2, 1988·No. 5449·Published·Cited by 14 cases

Opinion

Norcott, J.

In this appeal, the defendant claims that the trial court erred (1) in finding that the defendant’s plea of guilty was knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily entered, and (2) in failing to allow the defendant to withdraw his plea at sentencing. Because we find that the defendant’s attempt to withdraw his plea was not afforded appropriate consideration by the trial court, we remand the case so that an evidentiary hearing may be held to determine whether the defendant should be allowed to withdraw his plea of guilty.

The following facts are relevant to this appeal. In the course of his trial on charges of injury or risk of injury to, or impairing morals of, a minor in violation of General Statutes § 53-21, and sexual assault in the second degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-71, the defendant informed the court through counsel that he wished to withdraw his pleas of not guilty and enter a plea of guilty to the sole charge of injury or risk of injury to a minor. The state’s attorney informed the court that no agreement had been made as to the sentence to be recommended or imposed, but that the state had agreed to drop the other charges pending against the defendant.1 After assuring itself that the defendant was aware of the terms of the plea bargain, the [380] court informed the defendant that since the trial had already started he would not be able to withdraw the plea of guilty he was about to enter.2

„ The court then began to canvass the defendant to determine whether his plea was being entered knowingly and voluntarily. In the middle of the court’s canvass, the defendant three times asserted that he did not do the acts which he was alleged to have committed. Faced with these protestations of innocence, the trial court initially refused to accept the defendant’s guilty plea. After a brief colloquy with the defendant, however, the court continued its canvass.3

[381] Upon the conclusion of the canvass, the trial court determined that the defendant’s plea of guilty was, in fact, being entered knowingly and voluntarily. The court accepted the plea and ordered a presentence investigation of the defendant with a report to be prepared for the sentencing which was scheduled for September 9, 1985.

At the sentencing hearing, the court sentenced the defendant to ten years imprisonment suspended after [382] seven years with five years probation. Immediately after the imposition of sentence, the following colloquy took place:

“The Defendant: May I say something, your Honor?

“The Court: Well, go ahead.

“The Defendant: I had not pleaded guilty to this court on my own recognition. I was on a pressure force to plead guilty. It was the way to withdraw—

“The Court: Your transcript — your transcript to me shows otherwise, Mr. Morant.

“The Defendant: Your Honor, I—

“The Court: That’s all right. You can — you can take that up with your next attorney if you want.

“The Defendant: Okay.

“The Court: But it’s not appropriate at this time.

“Defense Counsel: Two things, your Honor.

“The Court: Please don’t say anymore about it. It might make me sorry that I even gave you just seven suspended — I mean ten suspended after seven.

“Mr. Thomas: May the record reflect, your Honor, I believe the clerk is in the process of giving the defendant his notice of right to appeal and sentence review.

“The Court: Yes, you would give him his rights of appeal.

“The Clerk: He has that now.

“The Court: Excuse me, costs are not waived.

“The Defendant: Your Honor, I’m — your Honor, I—

“The Court: I don’t want to hear anymore from you, Mr. Morant. Your case is over as far as—

“The Defendant: I’m appealing, your Honor.

[383] “The Court: You can appeal, fine. There’s nothing wrong with that. You can appeal.

“The Defendant: Please, let it know I’m appealing.

“The Court: You have a right to take an appeal. Leave this transcript of his in the file.”

We begin our analysis by noting that “[A] plea of guilty is in effect a conviction and the equivalent of a finding of guilty by a jury. Machibroda v. United States, 368 U.S. 487, 493, 82 S. Ct. 510, 7 L. Ed. 2d 473 [1961]; State v. Carta, 90 Conn. 79, 81, 96 A. 411 [1916]. The entry of a plea of guilty waives the constitutional right to a trial by jury, the right to confront accusers, and the privilege against compulsory self-incrimination.” State v. Battle, 170 Conn. 469, 473, 365 A.2d 1100 (1976); see also Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238, 89 S. Ct. 1709, 23 L. Ed. 2d 274 (1969). “For this waiver to be valid under the Due Process Clause, it must be ‘an intentional relinquishment or abandonment of a known right or privilege.’ Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 464 [58 S. Ct. 1019, 82 L. Ed. 1461] (1938). Consequently, if a defendant’s guilty plea is not equally voluntary and knowing, it has been obtained in violation of due process and is therefore void. Moreover, because a guilty plea is an admission of all the elements of a formal criminal charge, it cannot be truly voluntary unless the defendant possesses an understanding of the law in relation to the facts.” McCarthy v. United States, 394 U.S. 459, 466, 89 S. Ct. 1166, 22 L. Ed. 2d 418 (1969).

Once a guilty plea has been entered, the proper procedure for challenging the knowing and voluntary nature of the plea is by a motion to withdraw the plea made to the trial court before the conclusion of the proceeding at which sentence is imposed. Practice Book § 720;4 [384] State v. Schaeffer, 5 Conn. App. 378, 385, 498 A.2d 134 (1985). Ordinarily, the failure to file such a motion “precludes review of claimed infirmities in the acceptance of a plea.” State v. Schaeffer, supra. The state contends that the defendant failed to file a motion to withdraw the plea in this case. We find, however, that the defendant did assert in a timely fashion the claim that his guilty plea was involuntary. The trial court erred in not giving the defendant the opportunity to present that claim fully.5

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State v. Morant, 536 A.2d 605, 13 Conn. App. 378, 1988 Conn. App. LEXIS 34 (Colo. Ct. App. 1988).

536 A.2d 605 (State v. Morant) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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