Holden v. State Carolina
| Decision Date | 25 July 2011 |
| Docket Number | No. 27012.,27012. |
| Parties | Kelle HOLDEN, Respondent,v.STATE of South Carolina, Petitioner. |
| Court | South Carolina Supreme Court |
Attorney General Alan Wilson, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott, Assistant Attorney General Karen Ratigan, all of Columbia, for Petitioner.
Appellate Defender Elizabeth A. Franklin–Best, of South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, of Columbia, for Respondent.Justice BEATTY.
This Court granted the State's petition for a writ of certiorari to review the circuit court's order granting post-conviction relief (PCR) to Kelle Holden as to her guilty plea. The State contends the circuit court judge erred in finding plea counsel ineffective for failing to adequately (1) discuss the charges with Holden, and (2) explain to Holden that she was pleading guilty without a sentence recommendation from the State. We reverse.
In 2005, Holden was arrested and indicted for numerous charges stemming from her participation, along with several other co-defendants, in a series of car break-ins that occurred in Greenville County over a six-month period. Following her arrest, Holden cooperated with law enforcement and gave a statement regarding her involvement.
On July 17, 2006, Holden pled guilty to the following charges: (1) one count of possession of methamphetamine; (2) three counts of grand larceny; (3) three counts of possessing or receiving stolen goods; (4) two counts of breaking and entering a motor vehicle; and (5) one count of attempted breaking and entering a motor vehicle.1
The plea judge sentenced Holden to the following concurrent terms of imprisonment: three years for possession of methamphetamine; ten years, suspended during probation, for count one of possessing or receiving stolen goods; five years for attempted breaking and entering a motor vehicle; five years for each count of grand larceny; and five years for each count of breaking and entering a motor vehicle. Additionally, the plea judge sentenced Holden to seven years for count two of possessing or receiving stolen goods; and ten years, suspended on time served and five years' probation, for count three of possessing or receiving stolen goods. These sentences were to run consecutive to the three-year sentence for possession of methamphetamine. Ultimately, Holden received an active sentence of ten years' imprisonment.
Holden appealed her guilty plea and sentences to the Court of Appeals. She, however, voluntarily chose to withdraw her appeal. After the Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal, Holden filed a timely application for PCR in which she alleged that ineffective assistance of plea counsel rendered her guilty plea involuntary.
During the PCR hearing, Holden's plea counsel testified that Holden had sixty-four charges pending against her when he was retained as counsel. He further stated that he met with Holden “two or three times” prior to the guilty plea proceeding. Although counsel did not bring Holden's file to the hearing, he recalled that he “went over the incidents and the charges,” discussed the impact of the State's evidence, and discussed the possibility of a plea with Holden during their meetings.
In terms of the plea, counsel testified he received a letter from the solicitor's office four days prior to Holden's guilty plea, wherein the State offered to drop fifty-six charges in exchange for Holden's plea, but declined to offer a sentence recommendation. The letter also stated that the offer would remain open for four months. Counsel further testified he informed Holden that “she might get three, four, [or] five years,” but maintained he could not guarantee such a sentence as “[t]he judge could give her more time.” Counsel testified that he attempted to procure a sentence recommendation from the solicitor's office, but was unsuccessful. According to counsel, he explained to Holden that there was no sentence recommendation from the State and that she could potentially receive the maximum sentence on each of the indicted charges. Counsel claimed Holden never informed him that she wanted to go to trial.
Holden testified she met with plea counsel on two occasions prior to the guilty plea proceeding. Although Holden acknowledged that counsel discussed the facts of the cases with her, she characterized the length of the discussions as “[v]ery little.” According to Holden, plea counsel never reviewed discovery with her and did not discuss the elements of the pending charges. As to sentencing, Holden claimed counsel told her “about [the State] dropping the charges” in consideration of her decision to plead guilty and that she “would probably get probation, but no more than three years.” 2
When asked about the plea proceeding, Holden acknowledged the judge had questioned her regarding her decision to plead guilty and had discussed the maximum sentences for each of the charges. Holden also recalled the solicitor's statement that there was no sentence recommendation. At the conclusion of her cross-examination testimony, Holden admitted she would not have filed the PCR application had she received less than a three-year sentence.
By written order, the PCR judge granted Holden's requested relief. In prefacing his decision, the PCR judge specifically found that plea counsel's testimony was “not credible” and noted that counsel “failed to bring his criminal defense file to the evidentiary hearing, even though his subpoena instructed him to do so.”
As to plea counsel's representation, the PCR judge found that counsel failed to adequately discuss with Holden the State's evidence and the elements of the charges. The judge reasoned that counsel did not have enough time to thoroughly discuss the State's plea offer and its ramifications as the plea offer, which was to dismiss fifty-six charges, was tendered on the Thursday before the Monday plea proceeding.
The judge further concluded that plea counsel “misadvised [Holden] about the sentence she would receive if she accepted the State's plea offer and entered a guilty plea.” In reaching this conclusion, the judge referenced testimony from the hearing where “plea counsel assured [Holden that] she would receive a sentence of less than three (3) years and probation if she pled guilty.” The judge found that “[t]his was clearly not the case, as the State's offer was for [Holden] to plead guilty without a sentence recommendation.” The judge further found that plea counsel's error was not cured by the solicitor's statement at the guilty plea proceeding regarding the lack of a sentence recommendation.
Finally, the judge ruled Holden had established that plea counsel did not provide effective assistance. As a result, the judge vacated Holden's convictions and remanded for a new trial.
This Court granted the State's petition for a writ of certiorari to review the decision of the PCR judge.
In challenging the PCR judge's order, the State contends the PCR judge erred in finding plea counsel ineffective for failing to adequately discuss with Holden the State's evidence and the elements of the charges. Additionally, the State asserts the PCR judge erred in finding plea counsel ineffective for failing to adequately explain to Holden that she was pleading guilty without a sentence recommendation from the State.
In support of these assertions, the State claims there is evidence that plea counsel sufficiently reviewed with Holden the charges and the lack of a sentence recommendation. Even assuming that plea counsel was deficient, the State maintains that Holden was not prejudiced as the plea judge read each of the indictments, which contained the elements of each crime charged, and the solicitor presented a factual recitation that formed the basis for the charges. Moreover, the State relies on the guilty plea transcript, which indicates that Holden was fully advised of the maximum sentences she was facing and that she was pleading guilty without a sentence recommendation.
Essentially, the State claims the plea colloquy cured any alleged deficiency in plea counsel's representation in advising Holden of the nature of the charges, the maximum sentences she was facing, and the lack of a sentence recommendation on the part of the State.3
The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees a defendant the right to effective assistance of counsel. U.S. Const. amend. VI; Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984); Lomax v. State, 379 S.C. 93, 665 S.E.2d 164 (2008). “There is a strong presumption that counsel rendered adequate assistance and exercised reasonable professional judgment in making all significant decisions in the case.” Ard v. Catoe, 372 S.C. 318, 331, 642 S.E.2d 590, 596 (2007).
The United States Supreme Court has created a two-pronged test to establish ineffective assistance of counsel by which a PCR applicant must show (1) counsel's performance was deficient, and (2) the deficient performance prejudiced the defendant. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052; Cherry v. State, 300 S.C. 115, 386 S.E.2d 624 (1989). The two-part test adopted in Strickland also “applies to challenges to guilty pleas based on ineffective assistance of counsel.” Hill v. Lockhart, 474 U.S. 52, 58, 106 S.Ct. 366, 88 L.Ed.2d 203 (1985). “Plea counsel is ineffective within the meaning of the Sixth Amendment only when the applicant satisfies both requirements.” Stalk v. State, 383 S.C. 559, 561, 681 S.E.2d 592, 593 (2009).
“A defendant who enters a plea on the advice of counsel may only attack the voluntary and intelligent character of a plea by showing that counsel's representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness and that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's errors, the defendant would not have pled guilty, but would have insisted on...
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