Chapdelaine v. State

• Decision Date: 15 December 2011
• Docket Number: No. 2009–135–Appeal.,2009–135–Appeal.
• Citation: 32 A.3d 937
• Parties: Theodore B. CHAPDELAINE v. STATE of Rhode Island.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

32 A.3d 937

Theodore B. CHAPDELAINE

v.STATE of Rhode Island.

No. 2009–135–Appeal.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

Dec. 15, 2011.

Kirk Y. Griffin, Pro Hac Vice.

Virginia M. McGinn, Department of Attorney General, for State.

Present: SUTTELL, C.J., GOLDBERG, FLAHERTY, and ROBINSON, JJ.

OPINION

Chief Justice SUTTELL, for the Court.

The applicant, Theodore B. Chapdelaine, appeals from a Superior Court judgment denying his application for postconviction relief. On appeal, the applicant contends that the conduct of his retained trial defense counsel constituted ineffective assistance in violation of his Sixth Amendment right to counsel, as provided by the United States Constitution. For the reasons set forth in this opinion, we affirm the judgment of the Superior Court.

IProcedural History

In 2003, applicant was charged by criminal information with three counts of second-degree child molestation in violation of G.L.1956 § 11–37–8.3. The applicant pled not guilty, and a jury trial commenced on March 31, 2004. After a two-day trial, the jury found applicant guilty on all three counts. The applicant filed a motion for a new trial, which was denied. He subsequently was sentenced to thirty years at the Adult Correctional Institutions on count 1; consisting of fifteen years to serve and fifteen years suspended, with probation. The applicant also was sentenced to twenty years suspended, with probation, on each remaining count, which sentences both were to run consecutively with count 1. The applicant timely filed a notice of appeal, which ultimately was dismissed for failure to file a prebriefing statement.

On September 3, 2008, Mr. Chapdelaine filed a verified application for postconviction relief, alleging ineffective assistance of counsel by his trial defense counsel, Mark Smith, Esq. Specifically, applicant asserted that defense counsel (1) was compromised in his ability to cross-examine the complaining witness's mother because of a conflict of interest, (2) entered into an ill-advised and prejudicial stipulation with the prosecution to preclude either party from introducing evidence that applicant or any person testifying at trial had consumed any alcohol and/or drugs, and (3) failed to present expert witness testimony “to establish the significance of the psychological overlay” that had an impact on the complaining witness. On the day of the hearing, applicant filed an amended application for postconviction relief, adding a fourth ground for relief, which alleged that Mr. Smith “failed to properly communicate and have an informed review of the conduct and product of plea negotiations defense counsel had with the prosecutor.” Both Mr. Smith and applicant testified at the hearing. In an order dated March 11, 2009, the trial justice found applicant's claims to be without merit and denied his application for postconviction relief. The applicant filed a notice of appeal; and, following a prebriefing conference, we remanded the case for entry of a final judgment.¹

Such facts as are pertinent to the issues on appeal will be supplied in the following discussion.

IIStandard of Review

“[P]ost-conviction relief is available to a defendant convicted of a crime who contends that his original conviction or sentence violated rights that the state or federal constitutions secured to him.” Gordon v. State, 18 A.3d 467, 473 (R.I.2011) (quoting Young v. State, 877 A.2d 625, 628 (R.I.2005)); see also G.L.1956 § 10–9.1–1(a)(1). “This Court will not disturb a trial justice's factual findings made on an application for post-conviction relief absent clear error or a showing that the trial justice overlooked or misconceived material evidence in arriving at those findings.” Gordon, 18 A.3d at 473 (quoting Bustamante v. Wall, 866 A.2d 516, 522 (R.I.2005)). “This Court will, however, ‘review de novo any post-conviction relief decision involving questions of fact or mixed questions of law and fact pertaining to an alleged violation of an applicant's constitutional rights.’ ” Id. (quoting Bustamante, 866 A.2d at 522).

“This Court adheres to the standard set forth by the United States Supreme Court in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984), when evaluating claims of ineffective assistance of counsel.” Rodriguez v. State, 941 A.2d 158, 162 (R.I.2008). To prevail on such a claim under this test, an applicant must establish two criteria. “First, the applicant must ‘demonstrate that counsel's performance was deficient, to the point that the errors were so serious that trial counsel did not function at the level guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment.’ ” Id. (quoting Brennan v. Vose, 764 A.2d 168, 171 (R.I.2001)). “This prong can be satisfied ‘only by a showing that counsel's representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness.’ ” Id. (quoting Vose, 764 A.2d at 171). “The second criterion of the Strickland test requires the applicant to demonstrate prejudice emanating from the attorney's deficient performance such as ‘to amount to a deprivation of the applicant's right to a fair trial.’ ” Id. (quoting Vose, 764 A.2d at 171). “This prong is satisfied only when an applicant demonstrates that ‘there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different.’ ” Id. (quoting Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052).

IIIDiscussion

On appeal, applicant alleges that his Sixth Amendment constitutional rights were violated because of the ineffective performance of his trial defense counsel. Specifically, applicant claims that Mr. Smith (1) failed to have a substantive conversation with him about a particular plea proposal, (2) failed to discern a conflict of interest because of his prior representation of a state's witness, (3) entered into a stipulation that resulted in the preclusion of potential impeachment evidence, and (4) failed to undertake efforts to secure an expert witness. We discuss these claims seriatim.

APlea Negotiations

Mr. Smith testified at the postconviction-relief hearing that he has been a practicing lawyer for thirty-five years, has been the defense attorney at more than 200 criminal jury trials, and has tried twenty to thirty child molestation cases.² Mr. Smith said that he had “maybe five or six” meetings with Mr. Chapdelaine prior to the trial. Mr. Smith testified that applicant asserted his innocence at their first meeting and consistently maintained that he was not responsible for the alleged crime. Mr. Smith also testified that at one of these meetings they discussed a previous statement that applicant had made to a police officer, in which applicant had offered to “take a five year suspended, five years probation disposition.” Mr. Smith recalled that applicant “didn't deny” making the statement, and he added that “[the applicant] basically said that he was not responsible, but * * * [h]e wanted to get it behind him, and he would take a disposition for no jail time.”

Mr. Smith further testified that approximately a week before the trial was scheduled to begin, the trial justice suggested that he would impose a sentence of four-to-six years of incarceration in exchange for applicant's guilty plea. According to Mr. Smith, he presented this offer to applicant and applicant “indicated that he was not guilty of the actual charges; and so at that particular point, [Mr. Smith] said well, then we're going to have a trial.” When Mr. Smith was asked whether he had made a counterproposal to the offered plea, he responded: “I did. * * * That we'll have a trial.” When asked if he was the type of attorney who “spends a tremendous amount of time going over plea negotiations [and] offers with clients * * * who tell [him] that they are innocent of the crimes charged,” Mr. Smith responded:

“No. I tell them that this is the offer. If the person changes their position, can you get me something better than that, if they start to [waver] a little bit on their innocence, then I do delve into it further and try to negotiate as best I can, but if the person tells me I didn't do this, they'll tell me once or twice, I'm saying that, you don't have to tell me anymore, here's the offer, you didn't do this, we're going to trial. That's what I usually do.”

According to Mr. Smith, if applicant at any point had wavered on his claim of innocence or had said that he was willing to talk about a plea, Mr. Smith would have sought out additional offers but, in his opinion, applicant was not interested in further negotiations. Mr. Smith testified that he was aware that applicant was interested in a non-jail disposition; however, he did not believe that applicant was willing to take any “sort of jail recommendation.” Moreover, applicant testified that after Mr. Smith informed him of the offer, applicant stated “no, I didn't do that * * * I ain't taking that, and [Mr. Smith] said * * * good, I already told them that.” Additionally, during cross-examination applicant was also asked whether it was “a fair statement that [he] wanted a trial at that time,” to which he responded “[y]es.”

Mr. Chapdelaine contends on appeal that Mr. Smith, although informing him of the four-to-six-year offer, was ineffective during plea negotiations because he did not provide applicant with any guidance about whether the plea offer should have been accepted or rejected. The applicant also claims that turning down this offer and going to trial was “suicidal.” The state counters that Mr. Smith was effective because applicant “never expressed any desire to accept a plea with any sort of jail recommendation attached.” Moreover, the state asserts, when Mr. Smith told him about the plea offer, applicant reaffirmed his innocence and refused the offer.

The United States Supreme Court has made it clear that the Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel attaches during the plea-negotiation process. See Moran v. Burbine, 475 U.S. 412, 431, 106 S.Ct. 1135, ...