Byler v. State

• Decision Date: 23 September 1974
• Docket Number: No. CR,CR
• Parties: James Rupert BYLER, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee. 74-68.
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

Page 801

513 S.W.2d 801

257 Ark. 15

James Rupert BYLER, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee.

No. CR 74-68.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

Sept. 23, 1974.

Robert A. Newcomb, Pine Bluff, for appellant.

Jim Guy Tucker, Atty. Gen., by O. H. Hargraves, Deputy Atty. Gen., Little Rock, for appellee.

GEORGE ROSE SMITH, Justice.

This is a Rule 1 petition by which the appellant Byler seeks to withdraw his plea of guilty to a charge of second-degree murder, on the grounds that he did not validly waive the assistance of counsel and did not intelligently and voluntarily enter the plea of guilty. The Honorable John L. Anderson, circuit judge, accepted the plea after a brief hearing on April 4, 1973. The Honorable Elmo Taylor, circuit judge, denied Byler's Rule 1 petition after a more extensive hearing on February 2, 1974. This appeal is from the latter order.

We defer for the moment a statement of the facts now befor us, because this case can best be understood in the light of fairly recent developments in this area of the criminal law.

A convenient starting point is Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, governing federal district courts. That Rule, as revised in 1966, reads:

A defendant may plead not guilty, guilty or, with the consent of the court, nolo contendere. The court may refuse to accept a plea of guilty, and shall not accept such plea or a plea of nolo contendere without first addressing the defendant personally and determining that the plea is made voluntarily with understanding of the nature of the charge and the consequences of the plea. If a defendant refuses to plead or if the court refuses to accept a plea of guilty or if a defendant corporation fails to appear, the court shall enter a plea of not guilty. The court shall not enter a judgment upon a plea of guilty unless it is satisfied that there is a factual basis for the plea. (Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 11.)

In McCarthy v. United States, 394 U.S. 459, 89 S.Ct. 1166, 22 L.Ed.2d 418 (1969), the district court failed to observe the Rule's directive that the judge personally inquire whether the defendant understands the nature of the charge against him and is aware of the consequences of his plea. The Supreme Court held that the omission entitled the defendant to an opportunity to plead anew. A month later the court refused to make the McCarthy rule retroactive. Halliday v. United States, 394 U.S. 831, 89 S.Ct. 1498, 23 L.Ed.2d 16 (1969).

Another month later, in Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238, 89 S.Ct. 1709, 23 L.Ed.2d 274 (1969), two dissenting judges asserted that the Boykin majority had in effect made Federal Rule 11 binding upon the States as a matter of constitutional law. Although we do not construe the Boykin majority opinion to be that farreaching, the court unquestionably held that State trial judges must determine whether pleas of guilty are intelligently and voluntarily made and, further, that such a determination cannot be presumed from a silent record.

The clearest and most detailed discussion of recommended procedures is to be found in the American Bar Association's 'Standards Relating to Pleas of Guilty' (1968). In quoting those sections of the Standards that are especially applicable to the case at bar we are not to be understood as making them inflexibly binding, to the letter, upon the trial courts of this State, either retrospectively or prospectively. The draftsmen of the Standards say themselves: 'The responsibility of the judge varies, depending upon such circumstances as the complexity and comprehensibility of the indictment and the defendant's intelligence, education, age, and experience.' Commentary, Section 1.4(a). Nevertheless, we must observe that compliance with the Standards will go far toward achieving the twofold purpose of (1) assuring justice both to the accused and to the public and (2) minimizing the dreary necessity of having to reconsider in postconviction proceedings points that should have been set at rest whens the plea of guilty was accepted.

We quote those parts of Section 1 of the Standards that are particularly pertinent to this case:

1.4 Defendant to be advised by court.

The court should not accept a plea of guilty or nolo contendere from a defendant without first addressing the defendant personally and

(a) determining that he understands the nature of the charge;

(b) informing him that by his plea of guilty or nolo contendere he waives his right to trial by jury; and

(c) informing him:

(i) of the maximum possible sentence on the charge, including that possible from consecutive sentences;

(ii) of the mandatory minimum sentence, if any, on the charge; and

(iii) when the offense charged is one for which a different or additional punishment is authorized by reason of the fact that the defendant has previously been convicted of an offense, that this fact may be established after his plea in the present action if he has been previously convicted, thereby subjecting him to such different or additional punishment.

1.5 Determining voluntariness of plea.

The court should not accept a plea of guilty or nolo contendere without first determining that the plea is voluntary. By inquiry of the prosecuting attorney and defense counsel, the court should determine whether the tendered plea is the result of prior plea discussions and a plea agreement, and, if it is, what agreement has been reached. If the prosecuting attorney has agreed to seek charge or sentence concessions which must be approved by the court, the court must advise the defendant personally that the recommendations of the prosecuting attorney are not binding on the court.

The court should then address the defendant personally and determine whether any other promises or any force or threats were used to obtain the plea.

1.6 Determining accuracy of plea.

Notwithstanding the acceptance of a plea of guilty, the court should not enter a judgment upon such plea without making such inquiry as may satisfy it that there is a factual basis for the plea.

1.7 Record of proceedings.

A verbatim record of the proceedings at which the defendant enters a plea of guilty or nolo contendere should be made and preserved. The record should include (i) the court's advice to the defendant (as required in section 1.4), (ii) the inquiry into the voluntariness of the plea (as required in section 1.5), and (iii) the inquiry into the accuracy of the plea (as required in section 1.6).

We turn now to the facts in the case at hand. Byler, a middle-aged man, had only a first-grade education. He cannot read or write. Jimmy Zomant, the victim of the asserted homicide, died of a gunshot wound on March 31, 1973. On April 2 Byler was charged by information with second-degree murder. On April 4 Byler appeared before the court without counsel and pleaded guilty. The hearing, transcribed upon less than three typewritten pages, could hardly have taken more than five minutes....