Wright v. State

743 S.W.2d 571, 1987 Mo. App. LEXIS 5157, 1987 WL 30433
Missouri Court of Appeals·Decided December 29, 1987·No. No. 15134·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

FLANIGAN, Judge.

Movant, Jack L. Wright, appeals from an order denying, after an evidentiary hearing, his Rule 27.261 motion to set aside three judgments and three 25-year sentences for robbery in the first degree, § 569.020. The sentences run concurrently-

Movant’s first point is that he was entitled to relief on his motion, and the trial court erred in ruling otherwise, because his guilty pleas, on which the judgments were based, were not entered voluntarily and intelligently and movant was denied effective assistance of counsel. Movant bases his first point on four grounds.

Ground (a) is:

Movant’s trial counsel “failed to even investigate medical witnesses and other persons who could have testified to mov-ant’s drug and alcohol addiction, which prejudiced movant by summarily denying him a possible defense to the charges of robbery, since movant’s trial counsel did not make any effort to determine whether such defense could be successfully pursued.”

Movant argues that the attorneys, Robert Parrish and David Robards, who represented him prior to the reception of his pleas of guilty, failed to investigate “mov-ant’s medical witnesses and other persons who could have testified to movant’s drug and alcohol addiction.” Movant also argues that the testimony of the unproduced witnesses “could have lent credence to movant’s claim that he was so intoxicated when the offenses were committed that he could not have realized what he was doing.”

The three offenses on which the challenged convictions were based were committed in 1982, two of them on May 11 and one on May 15. At that time § 562.076 provided that voluntary intoxication, under certain circumstances, could excuse responsibility for otherwise criminal conduct. The statute was amended in 1983 to eliminate voluntary intoxication as a factor affecting criminal responsibility.

Movant concedes that some cases hold, and others state, that even in its pre-1983 form, § 562.076 did not recognize voluntary intoxication as a defense to a charge of robbery in the first degree. Such cases include State v. Danneman, 708 S.W.2d 741, 744[5] (Mo.App.1986); Joyce v. State, 684 S.W.2d 553, 554[4-6] (Mo.App.1984); State v. Cole, 662 S.W.2d 297, 301[7, 8] (Mo.App.1983); State v. Duncan, 648 S.W.2d 892, 893[1] (Mo.App.1983); State v. Helm, 624 S.W.2d 513, 517[13] (Mo.App.1981). Movant seeks to challenge the soundness of those cases. Under the circumstances here, that challenge need not be considered.

In Hill v. Lockhart, 474 U.S. 52, 106 S.Ct. 366, 88 L.Ed.2d 203 (1985), the Court made several statements which apply to the instant situation where movant seeks to challenge the validity of a conviction based [574] on a plea of guilty entered upon the advice of counsel. They include:

“Where, as here, a defendant is represented by counsel during the plea process and enters his plea upon the advice of counsel, the voluntariness of the plea depends on whether counsel’s advice ‘was within the range of competence demanded of attorneys in criminal cases.’ ” Id. 106 S.Ct. at 369.

[[Image here]]

“[A] defendant who pleads guilty upon the advice of counsel ‘may only attack the voluntary and intelligent character of the guilty plea by showing that the advice he received from counsel was not within the standards set forth in [McMann v. Richardson, 397 U.S. 759, 90 S.Ct. 1441, 25 L.Ed.2d 763 (1970)].” Id. at 369.

[[Image here]]

“[T]he two-part Strickland v. Washington [466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984) ] test applies to challenges to guilty pleas based on ineffective assistance of counsel. In the context of guilty pleas, the first half of the Strickland v. Washington test is nothing more than a restatement of the standard of attorney competence already set forth in Tollett v. Henderson, supra, [411 U.S. 258, 93 S.Ct. 1602, 36 L.Ed.2d 235 (1973)] and McMann v. Richardson, supra. The second, or ‘prejudice,’ requirement, on the other hand, focuses on whether counsel’s constitutionally ineffective performance affected the outcome of the plea process. In other words, in order to satisfy the ‘prejudice’ requirement, the defendant must show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s errors, he would not have pleaded guilty and would have insisted on going to trial.” Id. at 370. (Emphasis added.)

[[Image here]]

“[W]here the alleged error of counsel is a failure to investigate or discover potentially exculpatory evidence, the determination whether the error ‘prejudiced’ the defendant by causing him to plead guilty rather than go to trial will depend on the likelihood that discovery of the evidence would have led counsel to change his recommendation as to the plea. This assessment, in turn, will depend in large part on a prediction whether the evidence likely would have changed the outcome of a trial. Similarly, where the alleged error of counsel is a failure to advise the defendant of a potential affirmative defense to the crime charged, the resolution of the ‘prejudice’ inquiry will depend largely on whether the affirmative defense likely would have succeeded at trial.” Id. at 370-371.

To support the charge of ineffective assistance of counsel in failing to secure the testimony of a defense witness, a mov-ant must show what the testimony would have been and how that testimony would have aided him. Ahart v. State, 732 S.W.2d 256, 257[2] (Mo.App.1987). See Sanders v. State, 738 S.W.2d 856, 860-861[2] (Mo. banc 1987).

None of the unproduced witnesses testified at the motion hearing. Indeed movant, testifying for himself, was vague as to the identity of some of them. Movant produced no evidence of what the testimony of any witness would have been with respect to movant’s condition, that is whether voluntarily intoxicated or not, at the time of any of the three offenses. Thus movant failed to meet the requirement of Hill v. Lockhart, supra, of showing “the likelihood that discovery of the evidence would have led counsel to change his recommendation as to the plea.” Ground (a) has no merit.2

Ground (b) is:

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Wright v. State, 743 S.W.2d 571, 1987 Mo. App. LEXIS 5157, 1987 WL 30433 (Mo. Ct. App. 1987).

743 S.W.2d 571 (Wright v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Aaron H. Johnson v. State of Missouri
Missouri Court of Appeals, 2014
Johnson v. State
427 S.W.3d 299 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 2014)
Price v. State
974 S.W.2d 596 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1998)