Becker v. State

• Decision Date: 27 August 2002
• Docket Number: No. 01-48, No. 01-49, No. 01-50.
• Parties: Guy Wayne BECKER, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff).
• Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

53 P.3d 94

2002 WY 126

Guy Wayne BECKER, Appellant (Defendant), v. The STATE of Wyoming, Appellee (Plaintiff).

Nos. 01-48, 01-49, 01-50.

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

August 27, 2002.

Mary Guthrie, Cheyenne, Wyoming, Representing Appellant. Argument by Ms. Guthrie.

Hoke MacMillan, Attorney General; Paul S. Rehurek, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; T. Alan Elrod, Assistant Attorney General; Theodore E. Lauer, Prosecution Assistance Program; and Crystal S. Swanson, Student Intern, Representing Appellee. Argument by Ms. Swanson.

Before HILL, C.J., and GOLDEN, LEHMAN¹, KITE, and VOIGT, JJ.

HILL, Chief Justice.

[¶ 1] Guy Wayne Becker (Becker) pleaded nolo contendere to four counts of second-degree sexual assault in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-303(a)(v) (LexisNexis 2001) and one count of third-degree sexual assault in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-304(a)(iii) (LexisNexis 2001). On appeal, Becker claims that he was mentally ill when he entered the pleas and that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to have him evaluated by a mental health professional, permitting him to enter his pleas in the first instance and then not attempting to have the pleas withdrawn prior to sentencing. We find that Becker was provided with effective assistance of counsel and affirm.

ISSUES

[¶ 2] Becker sets forth the following statement of the issues:

Whether appellant Guy Becker was denied effective assistance of counsel because:

A. His attorney did not have his mental condition evaluated.

B. His attorney permitted him to plead nolo contendere only hours after he had been released from the hospital because of a drug overdose.

C. His attorney did not move to have his pleas withdrawn prior to sentencing.

The State responds with a statement of the issues from its perspective:

I. Did appellant receive effective assistance of counsel when the record directly contradicts his claims that his counsel failed to pursue a motion to suspend proceedings and for a mental evaluation of appellant?

II. Did appellant receive effective assistance of counsel when he knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily entered his pleas of nolo contendere?

III. Did appellant receive effective assistance of counsel when there was no fair and just reason for withdrawal of his nolo contendere pleas before sentencing?

BACKGROUND

[¶ 3] In case number 01-50, Becker was charged with four counts of second-degree sexual assault in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-303(a)(v). The charges were based on allegations that Becker had inflicted sexual intrusion on his granddaughter over a period of years when the victim was between the ages of four and seven. A three-day trial was held between March 14 and March 16, 2000. The jury was unable to reach a verdict, and the district court declared a mistrial. Subsequently, a new trial was scheduled for August of 2000.

[¶ 4] While awaiting retrial, Becker was free on an appearance bond. During the interregnum between the mistrial and the new trial, Becker engaged in sexual activity with two other minors that would form the basis of three additional charges. Accordingly, a bench warrant for his arrest was issued on August 17, 2000, and Becker taken into custody that afternoon.

[¶ 5] The next morning, August 18, 2000, Becker and his counsel appeared before the district court for a scheduled hearing. Initially, the hearing had been scheduled for the entry of a guilty plea. However, Becker's counsel informed the court that after his arrest the night before, there was concern that Becker may have overdosed on Valium in an apparent suicide attempt. Becker was taken to the hospital, where he was forced to regurgitate the contents of his stomach. Accordingly, counsel expressed concern about Becker's competency to proceed with either trial or a plea. Counsel requested a continuance of the trial scheduled for August 21 and filed a motion to suspend the proceedings pending a mental health evaluation of Becker. The district court responded by noting that more information was needed about whether or not Becker had, in fact, attempted suicide and recessed the hearing to allow the parties to investigate.

[¶ 6] Meanwhile, the State filed two additional Informations against Becker on the same day. The first, case number 01-48, charged Becker with two counts of second-degree sexual assault for inflicting sexual intrusion on a victim who was less than twelve years old. The second, case number 01-49, charged Becker with one count of third-degree sexual assault for inflicting sexual contact on a minor victim. All three charges arose out of incidents occurring after the mistrial.

[¶ 7] The district court resumed the hearing late in the afternoon on August 18, 2000. No further mention of Becker's alleged suicide attempt, his mental capacity, or the motion to suspend the proceedings for an evaluation was made at this hearing. Instead, Becker, appearing with his counsel, and the State presented a plea agreement to the court. Pursuant to the plea agreement, Becker agreed to plead no contest to: (1) the first two counts of second-degree sexual assault in the case involving his granddaughter in case number 01-50; (2) the two counts of second-degree sexual assault in the first Information filed on August 18 in case number 01-48; and (3) the one count of sexual assault in the third-degree in the second Information filed on August 18 in case number 01-49. In exchange, the State agreed to recommend the sentences for charges within each case be concurrent to each other but would not offer any recommendation on whether the charges in the various cases should run consecutively or concurrently to one another.

[¶ 8] After receiving the details of the plea agreement, the court proceeded to explain them to Becker, who acknowledged that he understood the terms. The court informed Becker of the rights he would be giving up if he pleaded nolo contendere and the potential sentences he faced under the charges. Becker stated that he was not under the influence of any substance or disability that would prevent him from understanding the proceedings. Becker then proceeded to plead no contest to four counts of second-degree sexual assault and one count of third-degree sexual assault. The State provided a factual basis for each of the charges to which Becker pleaded. The district court then questioned Becker to ascertain whether his pleas were voluntary and of his own volition. After finding that a factual basis existed for the pleas to the charges and that the pleas had not been improperly induced or coerced, the district court accepted and entered the pleas.

[¶ 9] The sentencing hearing was held on December 20, 2000. Becker was sentenced to a term of not less than 20 nor more than 40 years on each of the second-degree sexual assault counts in case number 01-50 with the sentences to run consecutively to each other. Becker was also sentenced to 20- to 40-year terms for the two second-degree sexual assault counts in case number 01-48 with those sentences also to run consecutively to each other. A sentence of not less than 10 nor more than 15 years was imposed on the third-degree sexual assault count in case number 01-49. Each of the sentences in the three cases was imposed consecutively to the sentences from the other cases.

[¶ 10] Becker filed his notice of appeal on January 19, 2001. On January 23, 2001, the Department of Corrections filed a Motion for Ex Parte Order of Transfer seeking authority to transfer Becker from the State Penitentiary to the State Hospital. In a letter accompanying the motion, the warden of the penitentiary stated that Becker was "... suffering from severe variant of a major depressive episode. He is severely depressed and suffers from a magnitude of co-morbid cognitive deficiencies." The warden noted that Becker's condition rendered him an acute suicide risk if he was housed with the penitentiary population. A memorandum signed by members of the penitentiary's medical services staff supported the warden's request. On January 25, 2001, the district court authorized Becker's transfer to the State Hospital.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[¶ 11] For purposes of our review, a plea of nolo contendere is functionally equivalent to a guilty plea. Ochoa v. State, 848 P.2d 1359, 1361 (Wyo.1993). A guilty plea must be "knowing and voluntary." McCarty v. State, 883 P.2d 367, 372 (Wyo. 1994) (quoting Parke v. Raley, 506 U.S. 20, 28, 113 S.Ct. 517, 523, 121 L.Ed.2d 391 (1992)). "The validity of a guilty plea is tested by determining `whether the plea represents a voluntary and intelligent choice among the alternative courses of action open to the defendant.'" McCarty at Id. (quoting North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 31, 91 S.Ct. 160, 164, 27 L.Ed.2d 162 (1970)).

[¶ 12] We recently set forth in detail our standard for reviewing claims of ineffective assistance of counsel and, in particular, the specialized test for claims of ineffectiveness where the entry of a guilty plea is challenged:

Wyoming has a well-established and oft-repeated standard for reviewing claims of ineffective assistance of counsel:

"When reviewing a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, the paramount determination is whether, in light of all the circumstances, trial counsel's acts or omissions were outside the wide range of professionally competent assistance. Herdt v. State, 891 P.2d 793, 796 (Wyo. 1995); Starr v. State, 888 P.2d 1262, 1266-67 (Wyo.1995); Arner v. State, 872 P.2d 100, 104 (Wyo.1994); Frias v. State, 722 P.2d 135, 145 (Wyo.1986). The reviewing court should indulge a strong presumption that counsel rendered adequate assistance and made all significant decisions in the exercise of reasonable professional judgment. Herdt, at 796; Starr, at 1266; Arner, at 104; Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 689, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2065, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984).

Under the two-prong standard articulated in

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