Brassfield v. State, A00A0329.
| Decision Date | 13 March 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. A00A0329.,A00A0329. |
| Citation | 242 Ga. App. 747,531 S.E.2d 148 |
| Parties | BRASSFIELD v. The STATE. |
| Court | Georgia Court of Appeals |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Robert L. Mack, Jr., Lithonia, for appellant.
Robert E. Keller, District Attorney, Jay M. Jackson, Assistant District Attorney, for appellee.
Anthony Brassfield pled guilty to one count of cruelty to children pursuant to a nonnegotiated plea. The trial court sentenced him to serve five years in prison. Brassfield appeals contending that the trial court erred by: (1) improperly injecting itself into the plea negotiation process; and (2) refusing to give him the opportunity to withdraw his plea prior to sentencing.
The record shows that, after attempts to come to a negotiated plea failed, the trial court informed Brassfield that he could enter a nonnegotiated plea or go to trial. Brassfield chose to enter a nonnegotiated plea. Thereafter, the trial court heard the facts of the case and reviewed evidence, including pictures of the victim and Brassfield's previous criminal record. The trial court gave defense counsel the opportunity to present evidence regarding the factual basis for the plea. After his plea was accepted, Brassfield testified regarding mitigation for his sentence. The trial court allowed argument from both sides and sentenced Brassfield to serve five years in prison. Immediately after sentencing, Brassfield attempted to withdraw his plea.
Uniform Superior Court Rule (USCR) 33.5 provides that the trial court should not participate in the plea discussions. However, the comment complained of was not made during plea discussions but merely informed Brassfield of his options after the plea negotiations failed to secure a plea. It is clear from the comment itself, i.e., enter a nonnegotiated plea or go to trial, that plea discussions were no longer pending.
Brassfield argues that he was misled into thinking that the trial court was recommending a nonnegotiated plea and that it intended to give a lighter sentence than that recommended by the State during the plea negotiations. However, the record shows that the trial court informed Brassfield that the possible punishment the law allowed for the offense was from five to twenty years. As the record does not support a violation of USCR 33.5, we find no merit to Brassfield's enumeration.
The present case is controlled by our decision in Bice v. State, 212 Ga.App. 184(1), 441 S.E.2d 507 (1994), wherein the defendant entered a nonnegotiated plea which he sought to withdraw after the trial court announced the sentence. We held that once sentence was orally pronounced, the defendant's statutory right to withdraw his plea disappears. Id.
[Brassfield] did not move to withdraw his plea until after the trial court pronounced his sentence. Therefore, he had no right to withdraw the plea pursuant to OCGA § 17-7-93(b).... Therefore, we must determine whether the trial court properly found that the State met its burden of showing, by the record, that [Brassfield] entered his plea freely and voluntarily with an understanding of the nature of the charges against him and an understanding of the consequences of his plea. [Cit.] The trial court's decision will be upheld absent an abuse of discretion. Moore v. State, 225 Ga.App. 860, 861(1), 485 S.E.2d 552 (1997).
Manues v. State, 232 Ga.App. 454, 455, 501 S.E.2d 826 (1998). The trial court fully complied with USCR 33.8, 33.9, and 33.11 which set forth procedures for the court to follow when determining the voluntariness and accuracy of a plea. The trial court also determined the factual basis for the plea that Brassfield beat his seven-year-old son with the buckle end of a...
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...after the statement complained of by Hayes that the State made a new offer of a negotiated plea. See generally Brassfield v. State , 242 Ga. App. 747 (1), 531 S.E.2d 148 (2000). There, as here, the "comment complained of was not made during plea discussions but merely informed [appellant] o......
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McCroskey v. State, A06A0912.
...242 Ga.App. 89, 528 S.E.2d 861 (2000). 8. Id. at 91(1)(b), 528 S.E.2d 861 (emphasis in original) (followed in Brassfield v. State, 242 Ga. App. 747, 748(2), 531 S.E.2d 148 (2000)). 9. Hall v. State, 210 Ga.App. 792, 793(1), 437 S.E.2d 634 (1993) (citations and punctuation omitted), citing S......
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Rosser v. State, A05A1024.
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