State v. Barboza

• Decision Date: 12 June 1989
• Parties: STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Mildred BARBOZA, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: New Jersey Supreme Court

Page 415

115 N.J. 415

558 A.2d 1303

STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Mildred BARBOZA, Defendant-Appellant.

Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Argued Feb. 28, 1989.

Decided June 12, 1989.

Susan J. Abraham, Asst. Deputy Public Defender, for defendant-appellant (Alfred A. Slocum, Public Defender, attorney; Susan J. Abraham and John R. Grele, Asst. Deputy Public Defender, of counsel and on the briefs).

Catherine A. Foddai, Deputy Atty. Gen., for plaintiff-respondent (Peter N. Perretti, Jr., Atty. Gen. attorney; Catherine A. Foddai and John M. Holliday, Deputy Atty. Gen., on the briefs).

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

GARIBALDI, J.

Pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement, defendant, Mildred Barboza, pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:11-4(a). In turn, the State agreed to dismiss defendant's outstanding murder indictments and to recommend a maximum sentence of fifteen years, reserving the right to seek a maximum parole ineligibility period of seven-and-one-half years.

The trial court accepted the plea, sentenced defendant to the agreed maximum term, and dismissed the outstanding murder indictments. Defendant appealed her conviction and the Appellate Division reversed defendant's conviction, holding that the plea was factually unsupported by the record. It then remanded the case to allow the State either to downgrade the offense charged to conform to the proofs or to reopen the proceedings to present further evidence. We granted certification to determine what remedy should follow after an appellate court finds that a guilty plea has been accepted without an adequate factual basis. 113 N.J. 360, 550 A.2d 468 (1988).

I

During the night of September 9, 1984, and into the early hours of September 10, Ricky Barboza, defendant's four-year-old son, was severely beaten by defendant's boyfriend, Richard Collier, at Collier's home. At 5:00 a.m. on September 10, defendant took her son Ricky to Middlesex General Hospital. Although defendant claimed that the child had fallen down a flight of stairs, the hospital physicians immediately suspected child abuse. Ricky died on September 11 from the injuries inflicted. On September 13 Collier admitted beating the child and defendant acknowledged that she lied to the hospital personnel concerning the source of Ricky's injuries.

On August 28, 1985, defendant pleaded guilty to the aggravated manslaughter of Ricky Barboza. At the plea hearing, the trial court questioned defendant in order to establish a factual basis for the plea. Defendant stated that she had delivered Ricky to Collier's house on September 9 after Collier had requested that Ricky spend the night. Defendant knew that Collier, who had been drinking, intended to discipline Ricky because Ricky had taken a ruler belonging to Collier. She believed that Collier would "slap him or make him stand in the corner for a while." Defendant insisted, however, that she did not suspect that Collier would inflict "severe" discipline. Defendant admitted that Collier had hit Ricky previously and that on one occasion she had even covered up the bruises inflicted by Collier. She also acknowledged that when Collier drank too much, he could become physically abusive, but stated that she did not believe he was drunk on the night in question.

At the plea hearing, the trial court also reviewed an autopsy report submitted by the Public Advocate, which concluded:

The injuries received by the deceased, including the head injury, liver injury and almost all the bruises on the body's surface, were consistent with having been caused during the period when Mildred Barboza was not present in the home. Only one bruise, the one in the mid-back, was shown on microscopic examination to be older, approximately a week old.

Despite reservations about the adequacy of the plea's factual basis, the trial court accepted the plea. The court found that the plea was voluntary and that the defendant understood its terms and implications. On October 18, 1985, the court sentenced defendant to the maximum term permissible under the plea agreement. At the request of the State, pursuant to the plea agreement, the murder indictments pending against defendant were dismissed.

Defendant subsequently appealed her conviction on the grounds that there was an insufficient factual basis in the record to support a conviction for aggravated manslaughter and, in the alternative, that the court improperly applied sentencing guidelines. The Appellate Division reversed the conviction, holding that the plea was factually unsupported by the record. In effect, the court concluded that the facts supporting the plea could not establish that the circumstances described involved a "probability of murder," a requirement of aggravated manslaughter. See State v. Curtis, 195 N.J.Super. 354, 365, 479 A.2d 425 (App.Div.1984).

In her petition for certification, defendant argued that she must be allowed to withdraw her guilty plea and plead anew. In a supplemental brief filed subsequently, however, she asserted for the first time that in the interests of justice her plea should be downgraded to the third-degree crime of endangering the welfare of a child, N.J.S.A. 2C:24-4(a). The State contends that the Appellate Division's remand procedure is appropriate. The only issue now before us is whether the Appellate Division's remedy of allowing the State either to downgrade the offense charged to conform to the factual basis provided below or to reopen the proceedings to present further evidence is correct. Under the Appellate Division decision if the State were to choose the first option, defendant would be permitted to withdraw her plea only on satisfying the stringent post-sentencing standard of correcting a "manifest injustice." R. 3:21-1. If the State were to choose to reopen the plea proceedings to present further evidence to support the aggravated-manslaughter charge, defendant would be permitted to withdraw her plea under the more lenient pre-sentencing "interests of justice" standard. R. 3:9-3(e). We conclude that if an appellate court subsequently determines that a plea has been accepted without an adequate factual basis, the plea, the judgment of conviction, and the sentence must be vacated, the dismissed charges reinstated, and defendant allowed to re-plead or to proceed to trial.

II

Plea bargaining has become institutionalized as a legitimate, respectable, and practical tool in the efficient and fair administration of criminal justice. State v. Taylor, 80 N.J. 353, 360-61, 403 A.2d 889 (1979). It is widely viewed as an appropriate accommodation of the conflicting interests of society and persons accused of crime and as a needed response to an ever-burgeoning caseload. Santobello v. New York, 404 U.S. 257, 260, 92 S.Ct. 495, 498, 30 L.Ed.2d 427, 432 (1971); Taylor, supra, 80 N.J. at 361, 403 A.2d 889.

The cornerstone of the plea-bargaining system is the "mutuality of advantage" it affords to both the defendant and the State. The system enables a defendant to reduce the penal exposure and avoid the stress of trial while assuring the State that the wrongdoer will be punished and that scarce and vital judicial and prosecutorial resources will be conserved through a speedy resolution of the controversy. Ibid.

Because a defendant who pleads guilty waives important constitutional rights, including the right to avoid self-incrimination, to confront his accusers, and to secure a jury trial, McCarthy v. United States, 394 U.S. 459, 466, 89 S.Ct. 1166, 1171, 22 L.Ed.2d 418, 425 (1969), Taylor, supra, 80 N.J. at 361-62, 403 A.2d 889, New Jersey has designed court Rules to assure that the plea (1) contains a factual basis, (2) is given voluntarily, and (3) is given with an understanding of the nature of the charge and the consequences of the plea. ¹ Specifically, Rule 3:9-2 reads in relevant part:

A defendant may plead only guilty or not guilty to an offense. The court, in its discretion, may refuse to accept a plea of guilty and shall not accept such plea without first addressing the defendant personally and determining by inquiry of the defendant and others, in the court's discretion, that there is a factual basis for the plea and that the plea is made voluntarily, not as the result of any threats or of any promises or inducements not disclosed on the record, and with an understanding of the nature of the charge and the consequences of the plea....

This Rule further provides that if a guilty plea is refused, "no admission made by the defendant shall be admissible in evidence against him at the trial."

The requirement that there exist a factual basis for the plea serves a variety of purposes. In particular, it is designed to "protect a defendant who is in the position of pleading voluntarily with an understanding of the nature of the charge but without realizing that his conduct does not actually fall within the charge." Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(f) advisory committee note (1966 amendment). See also McCarthy, supra, 394 U.S. at 467, 89 S.Ct. at 1171, 22 L.Ed.2d at 426; United States v. Fountain, 777 F.2d 351, 355 (7th Cir.1985). The factual-basis requirement also affords the court an opportunity to observe the conditions under which the plea is made, provides a better record for appellate review if the plea is subsequently challenged, increases the visibility of charge-reduction practices, and aids correctional agencies in the performance of their functions. See W. LaFave & J. Israel, 2 Criminal Procedure, § 20.4(f) (1984).

In New Jersey, except in capital cases, the trial court must be "satisfied from the lips of the defendant that he committed the acts which constitute the crime." State v. Stefanelli, 78 N.J. 418, 439, 396 A.2d 1105 (1979) (Schreiber, J., concurring). A defendant's admission or acknowledgment may be completely understood, however, in light of all surrounding circumstances. State v. Sainz, 107 N.J. 283, 293, 526 A.2d...