State v. Garcia

Decision Date03 April 1996
Docket NumberNo. 21876,21876
Citation121 N.M. 544,915 P.2d 300,1996 NMSC 13
PartiesSTATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jesus Raymond GARCIA, Defendant-Appellant.
CourtNew Mexico Supreme Court
OPINION

FRANCHINI, Justice.

Jesus Raymond Garcia (Garcia) appeals the trial court denial of his motions to withdraw a guilty plea or in the alternative to reconsider the imposition of a life sentence. On appeal Garcia argues the trial court erred because his plea was not voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently given. Garcia argues several other errors, including that the trial court erroneously applied the sentencing provisions of the old children's delinquency code instead of the new code. Because the court's acceptance of Garcia's plea did not comply with the requirements of SCRA 1986, 5-303(E) (Repl.Pamp.1992) and such error affected Garcia's substantial rights, we hold that the trial court erred by refusing to allow Garcia to withdraw his plea.

Facts and proceedings. On February 7, 1993, 68 year-old Ester Reed was shot and killed when she interrupted a burglary at her home. Following an investigation into the killing, the police arrested Garcia. The initial proceedings against the seventeen year-old Garcia began in children's court with the filing of two separate petitions containing numerous allegations. The State charged Garcia with one count each of first degree murder, conspiracy to commit first degree murder, aggravated burglary with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary, theft of a credit card, and residential burglary.

On June 22, 1993, Garcia entered into a stipulation with the State, which provided for the transfer of his case to adult district court. It further provided that Garcia would enter into a plea agreement with the State wherein he would plead guilty to first degree murder. In exchange, the State would agree to dismiss all remaining charges. In accordance with that stipulation, the children's court entered an order on June 22 transferring jurisdiction from the children's court to adult district court. 1

On July 9, 1993, Garcia appeared before the trial court as an adult to be arraigned and to enter a plea. After Garcia signed a written plea and disposition agreement that provided he was pleading guilty to first degree murder, the court requested that he recount the factual basis for the plea. Following Garcia's recitation of the facts, however, the State expressed concern that it lacked the necessary factual basis to support the plea. The court then ascertained that Garcia did not understand felony murder, and it recessed to allow Garcia's attorneys to fully explain to Garcia all the elements of felony murder under State v. Ortega, 112 N.M. 554 817 P.2d 1196 (1991). After the recess, however, Garcia changed his plea to a first degree murder charge pursuant toNorth Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 91 S.Ct. 160, 27 L.Ed.2d 162 (1970). Though the Alford plea was contrary to the terms of the stipulation, the State approved of the Alford plea and agreed to set forth the factual basis in support of the new plea. To establish the factual basis, the State incorporated by reference the evidence introduced at Garcia's probable cause hearing. The trial court accepted the plea.

It is important to note that several events occurred between the June 22 hearing and the July 9 plea hearing. First, Garcia escaped from the juvenile detention center on June 23 and was recaptured one week later. The record indicates that as a result of his escape, the court was unable to expedite the plea and sentencing hearings, as requested by Garcia. Second, after Garcia was recaptured, the defense raised a new issue as to what law governed Garcia's sentence: the new Children's Code, NMSA 1978, Section 32A-2-20 (Repl.Pamp.1993), which took effect on July 1, 1993, or the "old code" in effect at the time the offense was committed, NMSA 1978, Section 31-18-14(A) (Repl.Pamp.1994). The court agreed to hear argument on this new issue and ordered the parties to submit briefs.

On August 3, 1993, Garcia appeared before the court for argument on the issue of what law governed the sentencing for the offense. Following counsels' argument, the court ruled that the "old code" applied. Garcia orally moved to withdraw his plea. The court denied that motion as untimely, but invited Garcia to file a written motion. Thereafter the court sentenced Garcia to a mandatory life sentence. Garcia then filed a written motion to withdraw his plea, which was heard and denied on November 8, 1993.

Standard of review. Garcia maintains that the trial court erred in refusing to allow him to withdraw his plea. A motion to withdraw a guilty plea is addressed to the sound discretion of the trial court, and we review the trial court's denial of such a motion only for abuse of discretion. State v. Clark, 108 N.M. 288, 292, 772 P.2d 322, 326, cert. denied, 493 U.S. 923, 110 S.Ct. 291, 107 L.Ed.2d 271 (1989), and habeas corpus granted, 118 N.M. 486, 882 P.2d 527 (1994). A court abuses its discretion when it is shown to have "acted unfairly, arbitrarily, or committed manifest error." State v. Kincheloe, 87 N.M. 34, 36, 528 P.2d 893, 895 (Ct.App.1974). A denial of a motion to withdraw a guilty plea constitutes manifest error when the undisputed facts establish that the plea was not knowingly and voluntarily given. Id.

Compliance with the procedural requirements of Rule 5-303(E). New Mexico has long recognized that for a guilty plea to be valid it must be knowing and voluntary. State v. Robbins, 77 N.M. 644, 648, 427 P.2d 10, 12, cert. denied, 389 U.S. 865, 88 S.Ct. 130, 19 L.Ed.2d 137 (1967); see also State v. Montler, 85 N.M. 60, 61, 509 P.2d 252, 253 (1973); State v. Lucero, 97 N.M. 346, 349, 639 P.2d 1200, 1204 (Ct.App.1981), cert. quashed, 98 N.M. 51, 644 P.2d 1040 (1982); State v. Martinez, 89 N.M. 729, 732, 557 P.2d 578, 581 (Ct.App.), cert. denied, 90 N.M. 8, 558 P.2d 620 (1976). The procedures set forth in SCRA 5-303 are designed to ensure a guilty plea is made knowingly and voluntarily. See State v. Martinez, 92 N.M. 256, 258, 586 P.2d 1085, 1086 (1978) (explaining the importance of procedural safeguards to determine voluntariness of pleas). Garcia argues that his guilty plea was involuntary because it was the product of ineffective assistance of counsel and because the trial court failed to satisfy the requirements of Rule 5-303(E). We address only the second issue.

In pertinent part, Rule 5-303(E) provides:

E. Advice to defendant. The court shall not accept a plea of guilty, no contest or guilty but mentally ill without first, by addressing the defendant personally in open court, informing the defendant of and determining that the defendant understands the following:

(1) the nature of the charge to which the plea is offered;

(2) the mandatory minimum penalty provided by law, if any, and the maximum possible penalty provided by law for the offense to which the plea is offered.

(Emphasis added.)

New Mexico's Rule 5-303 essentially codifies the United States Supreme Court mandate expressed in Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238, 242, 89 S.Ct. 1709, 1711-1712, 23 L.Ed.2d 274 (1969), which held that it was an error for the trial court to accept a guilty plea absent an affirmative showing on the record that the plea was voluntary and intelligent. See State v. Vigil, 85 N.M. 328, 333, 512 P.2d 88, 93 (Ct.App.1973) (holding "requirements for a voluntary guilty plea ... must affirmatively appear in the record"). The defendant must understand his guilty plea and its consequences. Neller v. State, 79 N.M. 528, 534, 445 P.2d 949, 955 (1968). For the record to reflect that the accused has the requisite knowledge of the consequences of the plea, it requires the accused has been informed of "the nature of the charges, acts sufficient to constitute the offense, the right to plead 'not guilty,' the right to a jury trial, the right to counsel, and the permissible range of sentences." Montler, 85 N.M. at 61, 509 P.2d at 253; see also State v. Lucas, 110 N.M. 272, 275, 794 P.2d 1201, 1204 (Ct.App.), cert. denied, 110 N.M. 260, 794 P.2d 734 (1990).

Paramount to our analysis is whether the record contains an affirmative showing that Garcia's plea was knowingly and voluntarily given. In the instant case, Garcia entered an Alford plea, which essentially allows a defendant "to plead guilty while simultaneously maintaining [his] innocence." State v. Hodge, 118 N.M. 410, 412 n. 1, 882 P.2d 1, 3 n. 1 (1994). Rule 5-303(E) prescribes the advice the court must give a defendant as a prerequisite to the acceptance of a plea of guilty. Consequently, this rule requires the court to give Garcia the same advice given when a plea of guilty is entered and also to ensure that the plea is knowing and voluntary.

The plea procedures in Rule 5-303(E) were adopted in 1974 and mirror Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. See Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(c). In McCarthy v. United States, 394 U.S. 459, 465, 89 S.Ct. 1166, 1170, 22 L.Ed.2d 418 (1969), the Supreme Court explained that full compliance with Rule 11 serves the dual purpose of producing a complete record while simultaneously aiding the district judge in determining accurately whether the plea is truly voluntary. While the underlying purpose remains the same, the "strict compliance" requirement expressed in McCarthy was modified by the adoption of a harmless error provision in Rule 11. See Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(h). Under this provision, mere technical failure to comply with the federal plea requirements is harmless when noncompliance "does not affect substantial rights." Id.

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