Plant v. State

Citation143 Idaho 758,152 P.3d 629
Decision Date17 October 2006
Docket NumberNo. 32094.,32094.
PartiesRodney L. PLANT, Petitioner-Appellant, v. STATE of Idaho, Respondent.
CourtCourt of Appeals of Idaho
152 P.3d 629
143 Idaho 758
Rodney L. PLANT, Petitioner-Appellant,
v.
STATE of Idaho, Respondent.
No. 32094.
Court of Appeals of Idaho.
October 17, 2006.
Review Denied March 2, 2007.

Appeal from the District Court, First Judicial District, Bonner County, Steven C. Verby, J.

[152 P.3d 631]

Molly J. Huskey, State Appellate Public Defender; Jason C. Pintler, Deputy Appellate Public Defender, Boise, for appellant.

Hon. Lawrence G. Wasden, Attorney General; Jessica M. Lorello, Deputy Attorney General, Boise, for respondent.

LANSING, Judge.


Rodney L. Plant appeals from the district court's order denying Plant's request for appointment of counsel and summarily dismissing his petition for post-conviction relief. We vacate the order and remand for further proceedings.

I.
BACKGROUND

In 1995, Plant pleaded guilty to a charge of trafficking in more than fifty but less than 100 marijuana plants. Idaho Code § 37-2732B(a)(1)(B), (D). The plea agreement provided that the State would recommend the mandatory minimum sentence of three years, but further stated that if Plant did not appear at sentencing, the State would no longer be bound by this recommendation. Plant failed to appear at the sentencing hearing and was a fugitive for over six years. After he was apprehended in 2002, the district court imposed a unified fifteen-year sentence with ten years determinate.

Plant appealed his sentence and conviction, which were affirmed by this Court in State v. Plant, 140 Idaho 347, 92 P.3d 1094 (Ct.App. 2003) (unpublished). He then filed a petition for post-conviction relief. Insofar as pertinent to this appeal, the petition alleged that his defense counsel had been ineffective because counsel "talked me into pleading guilty without thoroughly investigating my case."1 Plant also filed a motion for appointment of an attorney to assist him in the post-conviction action. The district court issued a notice of intent to dismiss, concluding that Plant had not demonstrated a valid basis on any of his claims. With respect to the ineffective assistance claim, the notice stated:

Petitioner has not pointed to any defense to the charge against him that his lawyer would have discovered through a more thorough investigation. Instead, it appears that the evidence against Petitioner was overwhelming, considering the large number of growing marijuana plants that were seized of over 250 plants. Therefore, Petitioner has not shown how [counsel's] performance was deficient or how he was prejudiced by the alleged deficiency.

In the notice of intent to dismiss, the court reserved ruling on Plant's motion for appointment of counsel, and gave Plant thirty days in which to respond. Plant responded to the notice, but the court ultimately issued an order in which it both declined to appoint counsel and dismissed the action.

Plant now appeals, asserting that the district court erred by not giving him adequate notice of the reasons why counsel would be refused, by not appointing counsel, and by not providing adequate notice of the reason for its intent to dismiss the claim regarding trial counsel's allegedly deficient performance.

II.
ANALYSIS

Because we consider it dispositive, we address only Plant's contention that, on the allegations he presented to the district court, counsel should have been appointed.

If a post-conviction petitioner is unable to pay for the expenses of representation,

152 P.3d 632

the trial court may appoint counsel to represent the petitioner. I.C. § 19-4904. The decision to grant or deny a request for court-appointed counsel is discretionary. Charboneau v. State, 140 Idaho 789, 792, 102 P.3d 1108, 1111 (2004); Fox v. State, 129 Idaho 881, 885, 934 P.2d 947, 951 (Ct.App. 1997). Nevertheless, counsel should be appointed if the petitioner qualifies financially and "alleges facts to raise the possibility of a valid claim." Charboneau, 140 Idaho at 793, 102 P.3d at 1112.

In assessing a request for post-conviction counsel, the district court must afford some leniency to pro se petitioners whose petitions may be inartful and incomplete. As Charboneau instructs:

[T]he trial court should keep in mind that petitions and affidavits filed by a pro se petitioner will often be conclusory and incomplete. Although facts sufficient to state a claim may not be alleged because they do not exist, they also may not be alleged because the pro se petitioner simply does not know what are the essential elements of the claim.

Id. at 793, 102 P.3d at 1111. Therefore, when a motion for the appointment of counsel is presented, every inference is to be drawn in the petitioner's favor where the petitioner is unrepresented at that time and cannot be expected to know how to properly allege the necessary facts. "At a minimum, the trial court must carefully consider the request for counsel, before reaching a decision on the substantive merits of the petition ...." Id. at 794, 102 P.3d at 1113.

If the trial court concludes that a petition does not demonstrate the possibility of a valid claim that would warrant appointment of counsel, the court must give the petitioner notice of the deficiencies in the petition.

It is essential that the petitioner be given adequate notice of the claimed defects so he has an opportunity to respond and to give the trial court an adequate basis for deciding the need for counsel based upon the merits of the claims. If the court decides that the claims in the petition are frivolous, the court should provide sufficient information regarding the basis for its ruling to enable the petitioner to supplement the request with the necessary additional facts, if...

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  • State v. Pruitt
    • United States
    • Court of Appeal of Florida (US)
    • 2 Noviembre 2007
    ...*7 (Ohio Ct.App. Dec. 28, 2006) (same); State v. Callaghan, 222 S.W.3d 610, 616 (Tex.Ct.App.2007) (same). But see Plant v. State, 143 Idaho 758, 152 P.3d 629, 633 n. 2 (2006) (noting, in dicta, that despite Hudson, evidence acquired in violation of Idaho's knock-and-announce statute might r......
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    • United States
    • Court of Appeals of Idaho
    • 20 Agosto 2014
    ...that, but for counsel's errors, he or she would not have pled guilty and would have insisted on going to trial. Plant v. State, 143 Idaho 758, 762, 152 P.3d 629, 633 (Ct.App.2006). This Court has long adhered to the proposition that tactical or strategic decisions of trial counsel will not ......
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    • Court of Appeals of Idaho
    • 24 Agosto 2015
    ...but for counsel's errors, he or she would not have pled guilty and would have insisted on going to trial. Plant v. State, 143 Idaho 758, 762, 152 P.3d 629, 633 (Ct. App. 2006). This Court has long adhered to the proposition that tactical or strategic decisions of trial counsel will not be s......
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    • 2 Julio 2014
    ...but for counsel's errors, he or she would not have pled guilty and would have insisted on going to trial. Plant v. State, 143 Idaho 758, 762, 152 P.3d 629, 633 (Ct. App. 2006). This Court has long adhered to the proposition that tactical or strategic decisions of trial counsel will not be s......
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