Dussault, In re, 44-68
| Decision Date | 02 December 1969 |
| Docket Number | No. 44-68,44-68 |
| Citation | 259 A.2d 776,128 Vt. 135 |
| Court | Vermont Supreme Court |
| Parties | In re Paul H. DUSSAULT. |
Lawrence Miller, Rutland, for petitioner.
James M. Jeffords, Atty. Gen., and Alan W. Cheever, Montpelier, for the state.
Before HOLDEN, C. J., and SHANGRAW, BARNEY, SMITH and KEYSER, JJ.
This is a post conviction proceeding. The respondent was a companion of Raymond Provencher in the criminal episode referred to in In re Provencher, Vt., 255 A.2d 180, and escaped from jail with him. He is now in confinement under concurrent sentences resulting from two pleas of guilty and a plea of nolo contendere to charges related to the fraudulent use of checks, and also a consecutive sentence based on a guilty plea to escape. Counsel was timely assigned and represented him at the time the guilty pleas were entered by the repondent in person.
His petition to be relieved of the consequences of his pleas was heard below and findings of fact made. Relief was denied and the issues are here for consideration by this Court.
When a guilty plea has been unfairly induced through ignorance, fear or misunderstanding, the appropriate remedy is to make timely application to vacate the plea and be permitted to stand trial. In re Garceau, 125 Vt. 185, 187, 212 A.2d 633; In re Baldwin, 127 Vt. 473, 252 A.2d 539, 540. As both of these cases point out, a plea of guilty is conclusive and binding if voluntarily made after proper advice and with a full understanding of its consequences. Petition of Dusablon, 126 Vt. 362, 365, 230 A.2d 797.
The respondent raises issues concerning the legality of his initial detention and of the later search of his car. The ultimate jurisdiction of the trial court derives from a formal arrest on a regularly issued warrant. In this connection, since nothing derived from the detention or search, they have no relevance as independent errors claimed to invalidate the proceedings. State v. Cabrera, 127 Vt. 193, 197, 243 A.2d 784. Furthermore, in that case, those issues were available because it was a regular appeal from a conviction after trial. We have already held that such issues are not ordinarily for consideration as part of post-conviction proceedings. In re Clark, Vt., 255 A.2d 178, 180; In re Provencher, supra, Vt., 255 A.2d 180, 181, 182.
However, we recognize they are being urged here principally as part of a claim of inadequate representation by his court appointed attorney. The trial court hearing the petition below found assigned counsel to be competent and able, and further found that he protected the rights of the petitioner at all times. Against this finding the respondent points to claimed irregularities in his arrest and detention, and to flaws in various of the complaints filed against him. He contends that his counsel's failure to take advantage of these shortcomings amounted to inducing him to plead guilty ill advisedly.
The exercise of judgment by an attorney in these situations is seldom easy to evaluate. However, some aid is available through consideration of the nature of the claims of error and their probable consequences. It has already been ruled that the claims of illegal detention and search, even if valid, were not necessarily bars to a valid conviction under State v. Cabrera, supra, 127 Vt. 193, 197, 243 A.2d 784.
The claimed defects in the various complaints are...
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Stewart, In re
...1044-55 (1970). Relief is now available for a variety of errors that affect the validity of guilty verdicts. See In re Dussault, 128 Vt. 135, 136-37, 259 A.2d 776, 777 (1969); In re Provencher, 127 Vt. 558, 560, 255 A.2d 180, 182 (1969). Second, the "Great Writ" has expanded to encompass "a......
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In re Collette, 07-040.
...sentence is the result of an unfairly induced guilty plea, the remedy in a PCR proceeding is to vacate the plea. In re Dussault, 128 Vt. 135, 136, 259 A.2d 776, 776-77 (1969). PCR proceedings are designed to challenge the validity of past judgments. People v. Padilla, 907 P.2d 601, 608 (Col......
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McMorrow, In re, 5-74
...at all. The appropriate remedy is to vacate the proceedings and allow the defendant to plead anew or to stand trial. In re Dussault, 128 Vt. 135, 136, 259 A.2d 776 (1969). In view of the disposition of this cause, we do not reach the other issues briefed by the The sentences are vacated and......
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Fuller, In re
...claims, which the reviewing court should and must consider. In re Mossey, 129 Vt. 133, 138, 274 A.2d 473 (1971); In re Dussault, 128 Vt. 135, 138, 259 A.2d 776 (1969). Yielding as we must to the judgment of the trial court on issues of credibility where the evidence is conflicting, we canno......