People v. Schneider
| Citation | 25 P.3d 755 |
| Decision Date | 21 May 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. 99SC401.,99SC401. |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Petitioner, v. Duane Fred SCHNEIDER, Respondent. |
| Court | Supreme Court of Colorado |
David J. Thomas, District Attorney, First Judicial District Donna Skinner Reed, Chief Appellate Deputy District Attorney Golden, CO, Attorneys for Petitioner.
Maureen O'Brien, Lakewood, CO, Attorney for Respondent.
This case presents for review the question of when a defendant who has entered a plea may withdraw that plea based upon newly discovered evidence. We hold that in order for a court to permit such a withdrawal and set the matter for trial, the court must reasonably conclude that: (1) the newly discovered evidence was discovered after entry of the plea, and, in the exercise of reasonable diligence by the defendant and his or her counsel, could not have been earlier discovered; (2) the charges that the People filed against the defendant, or the charge(s) to which the defendant pleaded guilty were actually false or unfounded; and (3) the newly discovered evidence would probably bring about a verdict of acquittal in a trial.
In People v. Schneider, 991 P.2d 296 (Colo. App.1999), the court of appeals affirmed the trial court in allowing Duane Fred Schneider to withdraw his guilty plea. Because both courts applied one standard of review applicable to determine when a defendant may have a new trial after conviction at trial, and because we announce a new standard tailored to post conviction review for guilty pleas, we reverse the judgment and remand the case to the court of appeals with directions to return it to the trial court for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
The People charged Defendant Duane Fred Schneider with four counts of aggravated incest against his daughter. Schneider pleaded guilty to an added fifth count of sexual assault on a child pursuant to section 18-3-405, 6 C.R.S. (2000), in exchange for the People's dismissal of the original four counts. The Defendant entered his plea on April 20, 1994, pursuant to North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 91 S.Ct. 160, 27 L.Ed.2d 162 (1970), and agreed that the People had a factual basis that would support guilt. The parties stipulated to a sentence to probation, and the court accordingly sentenced the Defendant to eight years probation.
Approximately two years after the entry of Defendant's conviction, his daughter, the alleged victim of the sexual assault, recanted her allegations of abuse in a letter to the trial court. The Defendant filed a motion under Crim. P. Rule 35(c) seeking to withdraw his plea on the basis of newly discovered evidence. In August of 1997, the trial court held a hearing on the Defendant's motion. His daughter testified at the hearing that she lied in her previous statements accusing her father of sexual abuse to her mother, family therapist, a social worker, and a police officer and that she recanted those statements of her own free will. Her mother and brother also testified that the alleged victim was recanting her prior accusations independently without pressure or input from them. The alleged victim also maintained that she had had no contact with her father and that he had exerted no pressure upon her to recant.
At the actual providency hearing, Schneider tendered a plea agreement that made no mention of an Alford plea, and indicated to the trial court a number of times upon inquiry that he intended to plead guilty. During the final colloquy of that hearing when the trial court was inquiring about factual basis for the plea, Defendant's attorney intervened and clarified that Schneider was in fact entering an Alford plea. At the Rule 35(c) hearing two years later, Defendant testified that he accepted a plea agreement on the advice of counsel and because he feared that a jury might believe his daughter's allegations rather than his denials in this type of situation. He further testified that he entered an Alford plea because "that particular plea did not involve having to admit guilt for something that I hadn't done which was something that I refused to do." Defendant argued that the alleged victim's recantation is newly discovered evidence because he could not possibly have discovered it at the time he entered his plea.
The trial court granted Defendant's request for postconviction relief, issued an order setting aside Defendant's plea and set the matter for further proceedings. The trial court concluded that the issues inherent in a request for withdrawal of a plea after conviction were the same as those inherent in a motion for new trial after conviction by trial. Accordingly, the trial court applied the four part test in People v. Gutierrez, 622 P.2d 547 (Colo.1981), to determine when a court should grant a new trial based on newly discovered evidence, and held that the defendant should be permitted to withdraw his plea. The court of appeals affirmed with one judge dissenting. See Schneider, 991 P.2d 296
.
We conclude first that an Alford plea is no different from a guilty plea for purposes of the instant analysis. Second, we conclude that a defendant who has been convicted after entry of a plea does have a right to file a request for postconviction relief under Rule 35(c) but such request raises different policy considerations than a motion for new trial; and third, we therefore apply a different test to the former. Accordingly, we reverse the court of appeals' judgment and remand with directions to return the case to the trial court for application of the test set forth herein.
Defendant contends that the court should treat him more leniently in permitting him to withdraw his plea, even after conviction, because his original plea was an Alford plea and he never really admitted guilt.1 We disagree. This court and the United States Supreme Court have both concluded that an Alford plea is the functional equivalent of a guilty plea within the system. In North Carolina v. Alford, the Supreme Court held that an "individual accused of a crime may voluntarily, knowingly, and understandingly consent to the imposition of a prison sentence even if he is unwilling or unable to admit his participation in the acts constituting the crime." 400 U.S. at 37,91 S.Ct. 160; see also People v. Birdsong, 958 P.2d 1124, 1128 (Colo.1998)
.
The Supreme Court in Alford found that while most pleas of guilty consist of a waiver of trial and an express admission of guilt, "the latter element is not a constitutional requisite to the imposition of criminal penalty." Alford, 400 U.S. at 37, 91 S.Ct. 160. The Court emphasized in Alford that the Constitution is concerned with the practical consequences, not the formal categorizations, of guilty pleas under state law. Id.
So long as the defendant intelligently concludes that his interests require entry of a guilty plea and the record before the judge contains strong evidence of actual guilt, a guilty plea is sufficient whether or not defendant admits actual guilt for the acts constituting the crime. See Birdsong, 958 P.2d at 1128
. A defendant entering an Alford plea has engaged in some assessment of the state's case, and the Alford plea is properly characterized as a guilty plea. See Birdsong, 958 P.2d at 1127.2
Indeed, the trial court in this case consistently advised Defendant at his providency hearing of the ramifications of his entry of this guilty plea and the Defendant does not contest the validity of that plea.
Having concluded that an Alford plea and a guilty plea are the same for purposes of this analysis, we then must inquire into the purpose and impact of a plea by a defendant resulting in conviction. Plea bargains pursuant to which a defendant pleads guilty in exchange for charging or sentencing concessions from the District Attorney are an accepted part of our jurisprudence and are specifically sanctioned by statute, court rule and case law. People v. Jasper, 17 P.3d 807, 811-12 (Colo.2001). Indeed, a significant portion of criminal charges result in some sort of plea bargain.
By entering a plea of guilty, the defendant waives a series of constitutional rights. Courts take such waivers very seriously, and require the trial court to engage in comprehensive advisements such that the defendant fully understands the import of his decision to plead guilty rather than require the People to prove their case to a jury. Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238, 242, 89 S.Ct. 1709, 23 L.Ed.2d 274 (1969). A guilty plea ends the obligation of the prosecutor and the court to bring the defendant to trial and exposes the defendant to the imposition of criminal penalties. People v. Madsen, 707 P.2d 344, 346 (Colo.1985).
A defendant's entry of a guilty plea waives several important constitutional rights. "By pleading guilty to a charge, the defendant waives his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, the Article III and Sixth Amendment right to trial by jury, and the right to confront one's accusers." People v. Kyler, 991 P.2d 810, 816 (Colo. 1999). A defendant entering a guilty plea waives the right to a speedy trial, the right to insist that the prosecution establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and the right to present witnesses on behalf of the accused. Id. The court accepting the guilty plea must ensure that the defendant's decision to enter the plea represents a "voluntary and intelligent choice among the alternative courses of action open to the defendant" and be the product of a free and rational choice. Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).
Colorado statutes provide that "[t]he acceptance by the court of a plea of guilty acts as a waiver by the defendant of the right to trial by jury on all issues including the determination of the penalty to be assessed, and the acceptance of such plea also acts as a conviction for the offense." § 16-7-206(3), 6 C.R.S. (2000). After the court accepts a knowing and voluntary plea, "nothing...
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