Sami v. State, No. 02-156
| Decision Date | 12 March 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 02-234, No. 02-156 |
| Citation | 2004 WY 23,85 P.3d 1014 |
| Parties | ELSADIG FOUAD SAMI, Appellant (Defendant), v. THE STATE OF WYOMING, Appellee (Plaintiff). |
| Court | Wyoming Supreme Court |
Representing Appellant: Donald J. Rissler, Riverton, Wyoming.
Representing Appellee: Patrick J. Crank, Wyoming Attorney General; Paul S. Rehurek, Deputy Attorney General; D. Michael Pauling, Senior Assistant Attorney General; and Daniel M. Fetsco, Assistant Attorney General, Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Before HILL, C.J., and GOLDEN, LEHMAN, KITE, and VOIGT, JJ.
[¶1] Appellant Elsadig Fouad Sami challenges the sufficiency of the factual basis underlying his guilty plea to felonious restraint and the sufficiency of the evidence to revoke his probation. We find that the factual basis was sufficient to support Sami's guilty plea and the evidence was sufficient to revoke his probation.
[¶2] The order of conviction is affirmed.
[¶3] Sami presents this statement of the issues for our review:
The State rephrases the issues as:
[¶4] Sami was originally charged with first degree sexual assault. The probable cause affidavit alleged that Sami forced his victim to submit to anal intercourse, and preliminary medical reports indicated that the victim had blood on swabs taken of her anus. In July 2000, pursuant to a plea agreement, the prosecutor filed an Amended Information charging Sami with battery, a misdemeanor, in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-501, and felonious restraint, a felony, in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-202. Sami pled guilty to both battery and felonious restraint. The district court sentenced Sami for battery but deferred his guilty plea to felonious restraint, without entering a judgment of guilt or conviction, pending Sami's successful completion of three years of supervised probation in accordance with Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 7-13-301.1
[¶5] In March 2002, the State petitioned the district court to revoke Sami's probation, alleging that he violated a term of the "Probation/Parole Agreement" he had executed with the Department of Corrections, Division of Probation and Parole. After an evidentiary hearing, the district court revoked Sami's probation, entered a judgment of guilt or conviction for felonious restraint and sentenced Sami for that offense. Sami appealed from the district court's order revoking his probation and the district court's subsequent judgment and sentence for felonious restraint. These appeals were consolidated for our review.
[¶6] Sami first argues that the district court failed to obtain a sufficient factual basis to support the felonious restraint guilty plea. In particular, Sami contends that the factual basis developed at his change of plea hearing did not establish that he had restrained the victim under circumstances exposing her to a risk of serious bodily injury. Sami does not claim any other error with respect to the entry of his guilty plea.
[¶7] The elements of felonious restraint are set forth in Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-202 (LexisNexis 2003), which states:
"Serious bodily injury" is defined as "bodily injury which creates a substantial risk of death or which causes miscarriage, severe disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ." Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-1-104(a)(x) (LexisNexis 2003). "Bodily injury" means "physical pain, illness or any impairment of physical condition." § 6-1-104(a)(i).
Id., ¶10 (quoting Model Penal Code § 212.2 cmt. 2, at 242 (Proposed Official Draft 1962)). It "does not require that . . . these results actually occur but only that the actor create a risk of such harm." Model Penal Code, supra, at 241. "This formulation reaches the actor who is reckless with respect to [the requisite] physical harm by punishing one who is aware of the risk thereof." Williams, ¶10 (quoting Model Penal Code, supra, at 243). "That the actor unlawfully restrains another under circumstances creating risk of serious harm is sufficient to call for felony sanctions and thus to differentiate this offense from the misdemeanor of false imprisonment." Model Penal Code, supra, at 240.
[¶9] W.R.Cr.P. 11(f) provides:
Determining accuracy of plea. — Notwithstanding the acceptance of a plea of guilty, the court should not enter a judgment upon such plea without making such inquiry as shall satisfy it that there is a factual basis for the plea.
This Court reviews the conduct of a hearing in which a guilty plea is entered as a whole. Mehring v. State, 860 P.2d 1101, 1106 (Wyo. 1993). "Our inquiry determines if the district court sufficiently described the nature of the charges, including the possible penalties; informed the defendant of the right to representation; informed the defendant of the rights waived by a guilty plea; and obtained a factual basis for the plea." Id. The intent of the procedural requirements is to prevent the individual charged with a crime from being misled into a waiver of substantial rights. Id. W.R.Cr.P. 11 requires that the district court satisfy itself that a factual basis exists for the guilty plea before accepting such plea. Rude v. State, 851 P.2d 15, 18 (Wyo. 1993). A sufficient inquiry includes a determination that the defendant understood his conduct, in light of the law, to be criminal. Barnes v. State, 951 P.2d 386, 389 (Wyo. 1998). Rule 11 does not require proof beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant who pleads guilty is actually guilty nor does it require complete descriptions of the elements in accepting a plea. Mehring, 860 P.2d at 1108-09; see W.R.Cr.P. 11(b).
The courts of our land do not function with scripts requiring each participant to perform his or her specific part in the same manner on each occasion. We should never mistake the presence of the printed or spoken word for comprehension. A ritualistic expression of verbiage, complete with legal terminology and excess, may provide a comfortable layer of support for technically demanding members of the bar, but would provide little real assurance that the accused actually understands what is about to be accomplished.
[¶10] A record composed of the defendant's testimony and admissions and/or the state's presentation of evidence discloses a factual basis. The trial judge may properly draw inferences from the defendant's admissions or the evidence presented by the state to satisfy all elements of the crime to which the defendant is pleading guilty. Rude, 851 P.2d at 18.
[¶11] At the change of plea hearing in the instant case, Sami was sworn as a witness, and the following colloquy occurred:
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Noel v. State
...of a factual basis is to prevent the individual charged with a crime from being misled into a waiver of substantial rights. Sami v. State, 2004 WY 23, ¶ 9, 85 P.3d 1014, ¶ 9 (Wyo.2004). A sufficient inquiry to obtain a factual basis includes a determination that the defendant understood his......
-
Noel v. State
...of a factual basis is to prevent the individual charged with a crime from being misled into a waiver of substantial rights. Sami v. State, 2004 WY 23, ¶ 9, 85 P.3d 1014, ¶ 9 (Wyo. 2004). A sufficientinquiry to obtain a factual basis includes a determination that the defendant understood his......
- Platt v. Platt
-
Hirsch v. State, 05-20.
...a judgment upon such plea without making such inquiry as shall satisfy it that there is a factual basis for the plea. [¶ 9] In Sami v. State, 2004 WY 23, ¶¶ 9-10, 85 P.3d 1014, 1017-18 (Wyo.2004), we This Court reviews the conduct of a hearing in which a guilty plea is entered as a whole. M......