McNeeley v. State

• Decision Date: 30 June 1986
• Docket Number: 16141,Nos. 15950,s. 15950
• Citation: 722 P.2d 1067,111 Idaho 200
• Parties: Bergen McNEELEY, Petitioner-Appellant, v. STATE of Idaho, Respondent. STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Bergen McNEELEY, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Idaho Court of Appeals

Page 1067

722 P.2d 1067

111 Idaho 200

Bergen McNEELEY, Petitioner-Appellant, v. STATE of Idaho, Respondent.

STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Bergen McNEELEY, Defendant-Appellant.

Nos. 15950, 16141.

Court of Appeals of Idaho.

June 30, 1986.

Rehearing Denied Aug. 19, 1986.

John C. Lynn (Lynn, Scott & Hackney), Boise, for petitioner-appellant.

Jim Jones, Atty. Gen., Lynn E. Thomas, Sol. Gen., A. Rene Fitzpatrick, Deputy Atty. Gen., for respondent.

WALTERS, Chief Judge.

Bergen McNeeley pled guilty to a charge of robbery and was sentenced to an indeterminate life term in prison. McNeeley subsequently filed a petition for post-conviction relief challenging the validity of his conviction. Following a hearing on the petition, District Judge Durtschi upheld McNeeley's conviction, but ordered a new sentencing because, at the original sentencing, there had been a conflict of interest involving McNeeley's attorney. The resentencing occurred before District Judge Bail, who was not the judge who had imposed the original life sentence. Upon resentencing, Judge Bail also imposed an indeterminate life sentence. In this consolidated appeal, McNeeley challenges both the district court decision upholding his conviction and the imposition of the subsequent indeterminate life sentence. He raises these issues: (1) whether his guilty plea was voluntarily given because he was allegedly denied effective assistance of counsel; and (2) whether the life sentence imposed at the resentencing was an abuse of discretion. We affirm both the decision upholding the conviction and the judgment imposing the life sentence.

The following sequence of events gave rise to this appeal. McNeeley and two co-defendants, Hirsbrunner and Jarvis, were charged with robbery of the occupants of a private residence in Boise, Idaho. The three defendants were appointed the services of the public defender's office, and a single attorney was subsequently assigned to represent the three. At arraignment all three defendants pled not guilty and a trial date was set. Prior to trial, McNeeley and co-defendant Hirsbrunner changed their pleas to guilty to robbery pursuant to a plea bargain agreement with the prosecuting attorney. Under the agreement, Jarvis, who was McNeeley's common-law wife, pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of theft by possession. McNeeley received an indeterminate life sentence for the robbery.

McNeeley subsequently filed a petition for post-conviction relief challenging the validity of his conviction. The underlying basis for the challenge was that McNeeley had allegedly been denied effective assistance of counsel because the same attorney had represented all three defendants. McNeeley urged that the co-representation by a single attorney posed such a conflict of interest that he had not received constitutionally effective assistance of counsel. The district court concluded that there was a potential conflict of interest in the attorney's representation of both McNeeley and Jarvis at the arraignment proceedings. However, the court also concluded that the potential conflict had not ripened into an actual conflict, nor had the attorney's performance been adversely affected. The district court did decide that there was an actual conflict of interest at the sentencing stage of the proceedings that had adversely affected the attorney's performance. Therefore, Judge Durtschi vacated the original sentence and ordered that McNeeley be given another sentencing hearing. As noted, at the second sentencing Judge Bail imposed an indeterminate life sentence on McNeeley for the robbery. McNeeley now challenges the validity of the conviction as well as the second sentence.

McNeeley urges on appeal that, under State v. Roles, 100 Idaho 717, 604 P.2d 731 (1979), the presence of a possible conflict of interest is all that is required to establish constitutionally defective representation under the sixth amendment. We reject McNeeley's interpretation of Roles. We acknowledge that the Roles opinion says there must "at least [be] a possible conflict of interest" in order to establish the "basis" of a sixth amendment claim. Id. at 719, 604 P.2d at 733. But the opinion as a whole makes it clear that more than the mere fact of joint representation must be shown. The proper standard applicable to a sixth amendment ineffectiveness of counsel claim, under both the federal and Idaho Constitutions, is that a defendant must show that an actual conflict of interest adversely affected the attorney's performance. Cuyler v. Sullivan, 446 U.S. 335, 100 S.Ct. 1708, 64 L.Ed.2d 333 (1980); In Interest of Kinley, 108 Idaho 862, 702 P.2d 900 (Ct.App.1985). We hold that District Judge Durtschi did apply the correct standard to McNeeley's claims.

McNeeley argues that his guilty plea was not voluntary because he was forced to plead guilty so that his wife could plead guilty to a reduced charge. McNeeley also argues that the joint representation affected the arraignment process in that the attorney could not obtain "as good a deal" for McNeeley due to the multiple representation. The two arguments are closely related. The Idaho Supreme Court has held that joint representation at the arraignment stage will not ordinarily invalidate a voluntary guilty plea. State v. Taylor, 100 Idaho 105, 593 P.2d 1390 (1979).

The record clearly establishes that McNeeley's plea was voluntary, and McNeeley's arguments to the contrary fail to convince us otherwise. At the time McNeeley pleaded guilty, the court thoroughly questioned him about the voluntariness of his plea. The defendant stated that he had been fully advised of his rights concerning the consequences of his plea, that he understood the maximum sentence for his crime, and that the court was not bound by any agreements as to punishment or probation. The defendant also acknowledged that he was satisfied with his attorney's representation and understood that he would be giving up his right to trial by jury, the right to confront his accusers in court, and any defenses to the crime. The record also establishes that McNeeley had indicated his desire to change his plea to guilty prior to his attorney's discussion of a plea bargain agreement with the prosecutor.

Even if McNeeley's plea had been influenced by the possibility that his wife would be permitted to plead to a lesser crime, that fact would not necessarily invalidate the voluntariness of his plea. The record shows that McNeeley was concerned about what would happen to his child if both parents were imprisoned. One of the concessions McNeeley would have received in return for his plea was the fact that his wife would probably be able to care for the child. That would simply be one factor in why McNeeley would be willing to plead guilty; it would not establish that the plea was involuntary. McNeeley argues that if he had been separately represented at the sentencing stage, his attorney could have obtained concessions by highlighting McNeeley's lesser culpability. The record before us contradicts this assertion. The case against McNeeley was overwhelming. Other than the avoidance of trial, McNeeley had no...