People v. Chavez, 85SA230
| Decision Date | 22 December 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. 85SA230,85SA230 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Gregory L. CHAVEZ, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Colorado Supreme Court |
Duane Woodard, Atty. Gen., Charles B. Howe, Chief Deputy Atty. Gen., Richard H. Forman, Sol. Gen., Cynthia Nimerichter, Asst. Atty. Gen., Denver, for plaintiff-appellee.
Lopez, Chavez & Graham, P.C., David Graham, Adele Graham, Taos, N.M., for defendant-appellant.
The defendant, Gregory L. Chavez, appeals from a judgment of conviction based on his guilty pleas to assault in the second degree and a crime of violence, and from a sentence of four years and one day to the department of corrections. He claims that his guilty pleas to assault in the second degree and a crime of violence were constitutionally infirm, that the information failed to properly allege a crime of violence and alternatively that the crime of violence statute expressly excludes the type of conduct involved in this case, that the district court abused its discretion in refusing to permit him to withdraw his guilty pleas, and that the mandatory sentencing requirement of the crime of violence statute violates equal protection of the laws. 1 Finding no merit in the defendant's claims, we affirm the judgment and sentence.
The defendant was initially charged in a two-count information alleging assault in the first degree, § 18-3-202(1)(a), 8B C.R.S. (1986), which is a class 3 felony carrying a presumptive sentence of four to eight years and a maximum aggravated sentence of sixteen years, § 18-1-105(1)(a)(I) and (9)(a)(I), 8B C.R.S. (1986), and the commission of a crime of violence, § 16-11-309(2)(a)(I), 8A C.R.S. (1986). The charges arose out of a stabbing which occurred on January 7, 1984, during a fight in a parking lot outside a bar in Denver, Colorado. During the fight the defendant stabbed the victim, Anthony Sudo, with a knife. The victim was hospitalized in intensive care for several days and underwent exploratory surgery and repair of a liver laceration as a result of the stab wound.
The defendant, who was represented by counsel at all times, entered a not guilty plea to the charges and the case was set for trial on September 4, 1984. On the scheduled trial date the defendant and the district attorney agreed to a plea bargain in which the defendant would enter a guilty plea to the reduced charge of assault in the second degree and the commission of a crime of violence. The information was accordingly amended to charge the defendant in count one with intentionally causing bodily injury to Anthony Sudo by means of a deadly weapon, a knife, and in count two with using a deadly weapon, a knife, during the commission of assault in the second degree. The crime of assault in the second degree is a class 4 felony which carries a presumptive sentence of two to four years and a maximum aggravated sentence of eight years. §§ 18-3-203, 18-1-105(1)(a)(I) and (9)(a)(I), 8B C.R.S. (1986). 2 By statute, a conviction of a crime of violence requires the court to sentence the defendant to a term of incarceration greater than the maximum presumptive sentence applicable to the substantive crime. § 16-11-309(1)(a), 8A C.R.S. (1986).
After the charges were amended in accordance with the plea bargain, the district court personally addressed the defendant and arraigned him on the amended charges. The court questioned the defendant about his mental condition and his understanding of the charges, explained to him his constitutional rights including his right to a trial by jury, and explained that by pleading guilty the defendant was waiving his constitutional rights and any defense to the charges and was subjecting himself to a mandatory sentence to the custody of the department of corrections for a four to eight year term. The defendant acknowledged that he understood the amended charges and his constitutional rights and expressly stated that he desired to plead guilty to those charges. Before the court accepted the defendant's guilty pleas, the prosecuting attorney summarized the factual basis for the pleas. The prosecuting attorney stated that as the victim and a companion were leaving a bar, several persons jumped the companion in a parking lot outside the bar. The victim attempted to pull one of the assailants off his companion, but was pushed away and stabbed by the defendant. Two off-duty police officers at the scene arrested the defendant with the knife in his possession. The district attorney also stated that the stab wound suffered by the victim was a serious bodily injury, since it resulted in a considerable loss of blood and required the victim to be hospitalized in intensive care for several days.
The defendant expressly acknowledged the factual basis for the guilty pleas. He further acknowledged that by pleading guilty he was admitting his guilt to the amended charges, that he was thereby abandoning his right to claim self-defense, and that he was subjecting himself to a mandatory sentence. In accepting the defendant's guilty plea, the court stated:
The Court would make the following findings for the record then, that the defendant understands each of the charges and the penalty ranges; that there have been no promises as to penalty. There has been, of course, a concession as to lesser counts here. There has been no undue influence or coercion. The plea is a voluntary one, intelligently given. The defendant understands his right to a trial by jury and is waiving it by entering a plea of guilty, and there is a factual basis for the plea, so the Court will accept the plea of guilty to Count 1 and to Count 2....
The defendant appeared in court for sentencing on October 23, 1984. Defense counsel, emphasizing that the defendant had no prior felony convictions, urged the court to impose a sentence to a community corrections program rather than to the department of corrections. In objecting to such sentence, the district attorney pointed out that section 16-11-309(1)(a), 8A C.R.S. (1986), required the court to sentence the defendant to the custody of the department of corrections for a term greater than the maximum presumptive sentence. The court followed the suggestion of defense counsel, sentenced the defendant to a community corrections program for a term of four years and one day, and referred the case to the community corrections board for placement of the defendant in an appropriate facility or program. 3
Approximately two weeks after the sentencing hearing, the district attorney filed a motion for reconsideration of the sentence on the ground that the court was prohibited by statute from sentencing a person convicted of a crime of violence to a community corrections facility or program. The court held a hearing on the motion. The defendant, who was represented by a newly retained attorney, agreed that the sentence imposed by the court was illegal and requested the court's permission to withdraw the previously entered guilty pleas under Crim.P. 32(d). The court granted the district attorney's motion for reconsideration and denied the defendant's motion to withdraw, finding again that the defendant's pleas were knowingly and voluntarily made and that he was aware that a mandatory sentence of four to eight years could be imposed. 4 The court then resentenced the defendant to the custody of the department of corrections for a term of four years and one day. This appeal followed.
The defendant contends that his guilty pleas were constitutionally infirm because the elements of the offenses and the possible penalties were not adequately explained to him by the court. We find this claim devoid of merit.
Due process of law mandates that a guilty plea must be voluntarily and understandingly made before a valid judgment of conviction can be entered thereon. E.g., Henderson v. Morgan, 426 U.S. 637, 96 S.Ct. 2253, 49 L.Ed.2d 108 (1976); Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238, 89 S.Ct. 1709, 23 L.Ed.2d 274 (1969); Harshfield v. People, 697 P.2d 391 (Colo.1985); People v. Leonard, 673 P.2d 37 (Colo.1983). Rule 11 of the Colorado Rules of Criminal Procedure serves to facilitate this constitutional requirement by prohibiting a court from accepting a guilty plea without first determining: (1) that the defendant understands the nature of the charge and the elements of the offense to which he is pleading and the effect of his plea; (2) that the plea is voluntary and is not the result of undue influence or coercion on the part of anyone; (3) that the defendant understands his right to trial by jury and that he waives this right by pleading guilty; (4) that he understands the possible penalties that may be imposed; (5) that the defendant understands that the court will not be bound by any representations made to him concerning the penalties to be imposed, unless such representations are included in a formal plea agreement approved by the court and supported by the facts of the case; (6) that there is a factual basis for the plea, unless the defendant expressly waives the establishment of the factual basis for the particular charge to which the plea is made.
The transcript of the providency hearing convincingly demonstrates that the court adhered to the requirements of Crim.P. 11 in accepting the defendant's guilty pleas and that those pleas were entered in accordance with due process of law. Insofar as the defendant's constitutional challenge is based on his asserted misunderstanding of the elements of the crimes to which he pled, the record shows that the court explained the elements of those offenses to the defendant, that the defendant acknowledged his understanding of the charges, that he further understood that he was waiving his right to assert the affirmative defense of self-defense by entering pleas of guilty, and that he was indeed admitting his guilt to both assault in the second degree and a crime of violence. The record further shows...
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