Goodloe v. State, 56948
| Decision Date | 09 October 1972 |
| Docket Number | No. 56948,No. 1,56948,1 |
| Parties | George Wesley GOODLOE, Movant-Appellant, v. STATE of Missouri, Respondent |
| Court | Missouri Supreme Court |
Edward P. Speiser, Richard E. Martin, St. Joseph, for movant-appellant.
John C. Danforth, Atty. Gen., Preston Dean, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, for respondent.
Appellant, on his plea of guilty to a reduced charge of murder in the second degree, received a sentence of 15 years in the Department of Corrections. Thereafter, he filed a motion to set aside the judgment and sentence therein under Supreme Court Rule 27.26, V.A.M.R. The trial court, after an evidentiary hearing, denied relief. We affirm.
The appeal having been lodged in this court prior to January 1, 1972, the effective date of new Article V of the Constitution, we have jurisdiction pursuant to then Art. V, § 3, of the Constitution of Missouri, V.A.M.S.
Movant was charged with murder in the first degree and was represented by three court-appointed competent counsel, who consulted with him often and conducted an exhaustive investigation of the case. On May 22, 1970, movant appeared in court with his attorneys and, after amendment of the information to reduce the charge to murder in the second degree, entered his plea of guilty thereto. Movant was advised by the court that he had the right to jury trial and the right to have all witnesses appear in person to testify; but that on a plea of guilty there would be no jury trial, there would be no appearance by the witnesses, and that the court would assess what it felt to be an appropriate sentence. Movant acknowledged that he understood and that he wanted to plead guilty. The court found that his plea was voluntary and that the statement of facts as given by movant showed him to be guilty of murder in the second degree.
On November 30, 1970, this motion was filed to set aside judgment, and sentence on two grounds: a) that movant was mentally incompetent to plead guilty, did not understand the consequences of his plea, incarceration from arrest to sentence (268 days) caused 'mental duress' and strain on his mental capacities, and through fear of receiving more time if he didn't plead guilty he did enter a plea of guilty through mental coercion, all of which rendered his plea involuntary; and b) that the information was insufficient to charge murder in the second degree. At the evidentiary hearing on this motion, an additional ground was added by amendment: c) that no allocution was granted.
In support of his contention that his plea of guilty was involuntary, movant testified that at the time of his plea he was 31 years of age, with a tenth-grade education, no criminal record, no jail experience, no knowledge of parole procedure, one of his appointed counsel told him if he went to trial he would get life but that the prosecutor would recommend 15 years if he would plead guilty (to a reduced charge), and that another of his appointed counsel told him that since he had no prior criminal record he would make parole the first time he came up.
As a witness for the State, Mr. Maurice Pope, one of movant's court-appointed counsel, testified to the exhaustive and diligent preparation of movant's case, that no promise of an early parole was made, that movant was told of the possibility of a life sentence because the nature of the charge required either life or death in the event of conviction, and that in his judgment as an experienced trial lawyer the probability of conviction was great.
After the hearing on movant's motion, the court found in substance that movant's only contention was that his plea was involuntary because he believed that he would spend less time in the penitentiary on a plea of guilty to murder in the second degree...
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...also North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 91 S.Ct. 160, 27 L.Ed.2d 162 (1970); Skaggs v. State, 476 S.W.2d 542 (Mo.1972); Goodloe v. State, 486 S.W.2d 430 (Mo.1972); Beeman v. State, 502 S.W.2d 254 Note also, with respect to the application of Furman v. Georgia, that 'a voluntary plea of ......
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...and the weight of the evidence. Due deference will therefore be given the findings of fact of the trial court...." Goodloe v. State, 486 S.W.2d 430, 432 (Mo.1972). We do not find the trial court's determination that McDonald was aware of the possibility of consecutive sentences to be clearl......
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