Gomes v. State
| Decision Date | 08 June 2017 |
| Docket Number | No. 2015–306–Appeal. (PM 13–4203),2015–306–Appeal. (PM 13–4203) |
| Citation | 161 A.3d 511 |
| Parties | Darren GOMES v. STATE of Rhode Island. |
| Court | Rhode Island Supreme Court |
For Applicant: Megan F. Jackson, Office of the Public Defender
For State: Aaron L. Weisman, Department of Attorney General
Present: Suttell, C.J., Goldberg, Flaherty, Robinson, and Indeglia, JJ.
The applicant, Darren Gomes, appeals from the Superior Court's denial of his application for postconviction relief. This case came before the Supreme Court for oral argument on March 30, 2017, pursuant to an order directing the parties to appear and show cause why the issues raised in this appeal should not summarily be decided. After carefully considering the record and the parties' written and oral submissions, we conclude that cause has not been shown and shall proceed to decide the appeal without further briefing or argument. For the reasons set forth in this opinion, we affirm the judgment of the Superior Court.
In January 2004, Gomes was indicted by a grand jury as follows: count 1, assault in a dwelling house with intent to murder while armed with a dangerous weapon; count two, assault with a dangerous weapon, to wit, a pistol; count 3, use and discharge of a firearm causing permanent incapacity while committing a crime of violence; and count 4, carrying a pistol on or about his person without a license. In September of that year, he disposed of the charges against him by pleading nolo contendere to counts 1 and 4. In return, the state dismissed counts 2 and 3 in accordance with Rule 48(a) of the Superior Court Rules of Criminal Procedure. On count 1, Gomes was sentenced to thirty years at the Adult Correctional Institutions (ACI), twelve years to serve and eighteen years suspended, with eighteen years' probation. On count 4, he was sentenced to ten years at the ACI, suspended, with ten years' probation to run concurrently with count 1.
According to Gomes, he was released from the ACI on parole on July 1, 2009. In March 2013, while he remained on parole and after an incident with his ex-girlfriend, he was arrested and charged with domestic assault1 and failure to relinquish a telephone.
Unfortunately for Gomes, that was neither his first nor his only scrape with the law during his parole; an incident that had occurred in February 2013, a few weeks before the March incident, caused an arrest warrant to be issued against him. This incident resulted in a new charge of breaking and entering. His ex-girlfriend, the mother of his son, was the complaining witness in both complaints.
Based upon the two separate incidents involving his ex-girlfriend, the state filed a notice of violation against Gomes pursuant to Rule 32(f) of the Superior Court Rules of Criminal Procedure. A hearing on the violation was held on May 23, 2013, in which Gomes was represented by private counsel.2 It appears from the record that Gomes was under the impression that the complaining witness, his ex-girlfriend, would not testify against him at the violation hearing because she had not appeared for trial on the simple assault charge. To his dismay, however, and to Gomes's visible distress, she did appear and she was on the witness stand ready to testify. Before the state began its direct examination of the witness, as a result of Gomes's emotional state, the state declared, In response, the hearing justice instructed Gomes to "control [him]self."
After this brief interruption, the witness's testimony proceeded. However, as soon as the witness began reading from her prior recorded handwritten statement describing the incident, Gomes's attorney asked for a sidebar conference. Following the sidebar conference, the hearing justice asked the witness to step down because he was unsure whether the hearing would continue or not. Gomes's attorney then asked if he could "have one moment with [Gomes] just to explain[.]" Shortly thereafter, Gomes's attorney articulated that he had "informed [his] client that he ha[d] a right to a violation hearing [, and that] [a]t that hearing, the judge of this court would have to be reasonably satisfied that he did not keep the peace or be of good behavior while he was out." Gomes's attorney then indicated that Gomes "wishe[d] to forego that hearing and would like to admit violation." Next, the hearing justice asked Gomes to come forward and the following colloquy ensued:
After this colloquy, Gomes was sentenced to serve nine years of his previously-suspended eighteen year sentence, with the remaining nine years suspended, with probation.
In August 2013, Gomes filed an application for postconviction relief. In that application, he alleged, among other things, that he had been denied the effective assistance of counsel at the violation hearing and that he did not knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily admit a violation of probation.3 A hearing on his postconviction relief application was held in August 2014.
At the postconviction-relief hearing, Gomes testified that, after he engaged his attorney, he met with him on three occasions.4 While they were discussing the breaking and entering charge, Gomes said that he informed his attorney that the residence on file with the parole board as his place of abode was the same place at which the incident leading to his arrest had occurred. Gomes maintained that, if his attorney spoke to the parole board and the landlord of the property, it "would show [his] innocence, that [he] didn't do the breaking and entering on [his] own house" because the landlord had given him permission to live there by including his name on the lease. He also relayed to his attorney that he did not believe that his ex-girlfriend would appear at the violation hearing and he asked the attorney to contact her.5 Gomes said that, at subsequent meetings, his attorney told him that "he was playing phone tag with" his ex-girlfriend. Gomes also said that his attorney informed him that he had not spoken to any of the other witnesses that Gomes had asked him to contact.
When Gomes's attorney testified at the postconviction-relief hearing, he admitted that he had not reached out to the witnesses to whom Gomes had directed him. However, he maintained that he believed that Gomes had "bigger issues" than whether or not he lived at the house where the incident took place and that "[t]hat was not going to make or break [his] case." His attorney testified that there were other
Gomes further testified at the postconviction-relief hearing that his attorney had not communicated any offers to him that might resolve the probation violation. According to Gomes's attorney, however, both a twelve-year offer to "wrap"6 and the nine-year offer in return for an admission to the probation violation were conveyed to him on May 8. He first testified that he made Gomes aware of those offers on May 14,7 but when asked later in his testimony, he acknowledged that he did not remember when he communicated the offer to Gomes. He then conceded that he communicated the offer to Gomes in the cellblock on the day of the violation hearing.
Gomes testified that, by the time he arrived at the cellblock on the day of his violation hearing, he did not know whether his attorney had spoken to any of the three witnesses he had asked him to contact. He also testified that, before the violation hearing began, his attorney visited him in the cellblock and informed him that his ex-girlfriend had indeed appeared for the hearing. Gomes testified that it was at that time that he asked his attorney to "try to get [him] a deal." However, according to Gomes, his attorney told him,
According to Gomes, he "lost it" as he entered the courtroom; he testified that he had an "emotional breakdown, a panic attack" and that he began to sob. He maintained that he was distraught because he was "under intense pressure" and he knew that his attorney had not done a proper investigation before the violation hearing. When asked if he was thinking clearly at that point, he responded that he was not, due to his "emotional state."
Gomes also testified that, shortly after his ex-girlfriend commenced her testimony, his attorney stopped the hearing and asked for a sidebar conference with the hearing...
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