Wilson v. State

935 So. 2d 494, 2005 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 222, 2005 WL 2811595
Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama·Decided October 28, 2005·No. CR-04-1448·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

SHAW, Judge.

Christopher Timothy Wilson appeals the circuit court’s summary denial of his Rule 32, Ala.R.Crim.P., petition for postconviction relief, in which he attacked his February 9, 2004, convictions for three counts of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance and one count of trafficking in cocaine, entered pursuant to guilty pleas, and his resulting sentences of 20 years’ imprisonment for each of the distribution convictions and 25 years’ imprisonment for the trafficking conviction, the sentences to run concurrently. These sentences included five-year enhancements under both §§ 13A-12-250 and 13A-12-270, Ala.Code 1975. Wilson indicated in his Rule 32 petition that he did not appeal his convictions or his sentences.

Wilson filed his Rule 32 petition on August 16, 2004. As best we can discern, Wilson alleged in his petition that he was not made aware that his sentences would be enhanced by the application of §§ 13A-12-250 and 13A-12-270 because, he said, neither his trial counsel nor the trial court advised him that these enhancements would apply to his sentences and, therefore, he argues, his pleas were involuntary. The State filed a response, in which it maintained that Wilson was not entitled to any relief on his claims because, it said, he had executed “Court’s Exhibit A” and “Court’s Exhibit B” when he entered his guilty pleas and these documents demonstrate that Wilson had entered his guilty [496]*496pleas with a full understanding of the nature of the charges and the consequences of the pleas, that he was aware of the terms of his plea agreement when he entered his guilty pleas, and that he was satisfied with his trial counsel’s representation at the time he entered his guilty pleas.

On September 21, 2004, Wilson moved to amend his Rule 32 petition and he requested that the circuit court allow him 30 days to amend the petition to include a jurisdictional claim. On October 14, 2004, Wilson filed an amended petition alleging three grounds in support of his jurisdictional claim. On March 29, 2005, the circuit court summarily denied Wilson’s Rule 32 petition, and on that same date the circuit court denied his motion to amend his Rule 32 petition and his amended Rule 32 petition.1

I.

Wilson contends that before he entered his guilty pleas, neither his trial counsel nor the trial court advised him that his sentences would be subject to enhancements under §§ 13A-12-250 and 13A-12-270. Rule 14.4, Ala.R.Crim.P., provides, in pertinent part:

“(a) Colloquy With Defendant.... [T]he court shall not accept a plea of guilty without first addressing the defendant personally in the presence of counsel in open court for the purposes of:
“(1) Ascertaining that the defendant has a full understanding of what a plea of guilty means and its consequences, by informing the defendant of and determining that the defendant understands:
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“(ii) The mandatory minimum penalty, if any, and the maximum possible penalty provided by law, including any enhanced sentencing provisions.”

(Emphasis added.) In Aaron v. State, 673 So.2d 849, 849-50 (Ala.Crim.App.1995), this Court stated:

“The Alabama Supreme Court and this Court ‘have consistently held that a defendant must be informed of the maximum and minimum possible sentences as an absolute constitutional prerequisite to the acceptance of a guilty plea.’ Ex parte Rivers, 597 So.2d 1308, 1309 (Ala.1991). It is well settled, moreover, that ‘if the appellant’s sentence could be enhanced under any of the enhancement statutes, the appellant should be informed of the additional sentence he could receive under the applicable enhancement statute.’ Elrod v. State, 629 So.2d 58, 59 (Ala.Cr.App.1993), citing Rivers. Accord, White v. State, 616 So.2d 399 (Ala.Cr.App.1993); Looney v. State, 563 So.2d 3, 4 (Ala.Cr.App.1989); Smith v. State, 494 So.2d 182 (Ala.Cr.App.1986).”

Although the State contended in its response that Wilson voluntarily and intelligently entered his guilty pleas with a full understanding of the nature of the charges and the consequences of the pleas, the record does not demonstrate whether Wilson was, in fact, properly informed of the minimum and maximum sentence he could receive when he entered his guilty pleas because the record does not contain a copy of either “Court’s Exhibit A” or “Court’s Exhibit B,” referred to in the State’s response, or a transcript of the guilty-plea colloquy. Waddle v. State, 784 So.2d 367, 369-70 (Ala.Crim.App.2000). Therefore, we must remand this case for the circuit court to address the merits of Wilson’s claim regarding the voluntariness of his pleas.

[497]*497II.

Wilson also contends that the circuit court erred in denying his motion to amend his Rule 32 petition. The case action summary for case nos. CC-03-3706.60, CC-03-3708.60, and CC-03-3709.60 contain the following entries:

“3/29/05 Motion to amend Rule 32 petition denied.
“3/29/05 Amended Rule 32 petition denied.”

(C. 1, 76, 89.) The case action summary for case no. CC-03-3707.60 contains the following entry:

“3/29/05 Motion to amend Rule 32 petition denied.”

(C. 63.) It is unclear from these entries whether the circuit court denied the motion to amend the Rule 32 petition or whether the circuit court did, in fact, consider the amended Rule 32 petition and deny it.

“Amendments to pleadings may be permitted at any stage of the proceedings prior to the entry of judgment,” Rule 32.7(b), Ala.R.Crim.P., and “shall be freely granted,” Rule 32.7(d), Ala.R.Crim.P. Whether to allow an amendment to a Rule 32 petition is within the circuit court’s discretion, but amendments should be allowed “if necessary for a full and fair determination on the merits.” Allen v. State, 825 So.2d 264, 268 (Ala.Crim.App.2001), aff'd, 825 So.2d 271 (Ala.2002). “[G]rounds such as actual prejudice or undue delay will support a trial court’s refusal to allow, or to consider, an amendment to a Rule 32 petition.” Ex parte Rhone, 900 So.2d 455, 458 (Ala.2004). In addition, “the trial court, in its discretion, may deny the petition to amend if it determines that the petition is ‘not sufficiently specific, is precluded, or fails to state a claim, or that no material issue of fact or law exists’ that would allow relief.” Ex parte Stringfellow, 565 So.2d 147, 149 (Ala.1990), quoting Rule 20.7(d), Ala.Temp.R.Crim.P., now Rule 32.7(d), Ala.R.Crim.P.

It is clear that allowing the amendment in this case — which was filed more than five months before the circuit court summarily denied the petition — would not have prejudiced the State or caused undue delay in the Rule 32 proceedings. Thus, if the circuit court did, in fact, deny Wilson’s motion to amend his Rule 32 petition, we find that this denial was erroneous because although two of the grounds raised in the amended petition — “Amended Ground ‘A’ ” and “Amended Ground ‘C’ ” — do not warrant any relief, one of the grounds raised in the amended petition — “Amended Ground ‘B’ ” — is a valid illegal-sentence claim that needs to be addressed by the circuit court.

In his amended petition, Wilson alleged in “Amended Ground ‘A’ ” (C.

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Wilson v. State, 935 So. 2d 494, 2005 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 222, 2005 WL 2811595 (Ala. Ct. App. 2005).

935 So. 2d 494 (Wilson v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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