State v. Lummus, 88-1016

• Decision Date: 05 October 1989
• Docket Number: No. 88-1016,88-1016
• Citation: 449 N.W.2d 95
• Parties: STATE of Iowa, Appellant, v. Larry O. LUMMUS, Appellee.
• Court: Iowa Court of Appeals

Page 95

449 N.W.2d 95

STATE of Iowa, Appellant, v. Larry O. LUMMUS, Appellee.

No. 88-1016.

Court of Appeals of Iowa.

Oct. 5, 1989.

Thomas J. Miller, Atty. Gen., Christie J. Scase, Asst. Atty. Gen., and John Otto, County Atty., for plaintiff-appellant.

William L. Wegman, State Public Defender, and B. John Burns, Asst. Public Defender, for defendant-appellee.

Heard by DONIELSON, P.J., and HAYDEN and SACKETT, JJ.

DONIELSON, Presiding Judge.

In February 1988 a van was stolen from a residence in Atlantic, Iowa. The van was subsequently stopped in Texas and its three occupants were arrested. One of the occupants, defendant Larry Lummus, remained in jail in Texas for over two months for a probation/parole violation stemming from a prior theft conviction. The other two occupants (Hill and Herron) were promptly returned to Iowa.

While Lummus was in jail in Texas, an Assistant Cass County Attorney engaged in plea negotiations with Lummus by mail and telephone. In one letter, the assistant county attorney offered to dismiss the charge pending against Lummus in return for his agreement to discuss the theft and to testify at the trials of Hill and Herron. Lummus called the assistant county attorney and accepted this offer. Due to subsequent negotiated guilty pleas by the other two defendants, Lummus was later notified that his testimony against them would not be needed.

Upon his return from Texas to Iowa, Lummus was charged with first-degree theft in Cass County. Lummus filed a motion to dismiss this charge. After a hearing, the district court sustained Lummus' motion and dismissed the charge against him. The district court concluded that the State had made an offer to dismiss the charge in return for Lummus' agreement to provide details relative to the theft and to testify against the two codefendants. The court determined that Lummus had accepted the State's offer, and that the parties had thereby reached a valid and enforceable agreement calling for the dismissal of the charge. The trial court found that the prosecution had used Lummus' information and agreement to testify during its negotiations with the other defendants and that Lummus was prejudiced by this conduct. The district court concluded that allowing the State to withdraw from the plea bargain would amount to an intolerable violation "of our time-honored fair play norm and accepted professional standards."

The State has appealed from the district court order dismissing the first-degree theft charge against Lummus. The State contends the dismissal was erroneous because the defendant had not relied to his detriment on the representations of the Assistant Cass County Attorney.

In ruling on a motion to dismiss as a remedy for the State's alleged repudiation of a plea agreement, the trial court possesses the same limited discretion it exercises when ruling on a motion to dismiss for failure to provide a speedy trial. State v. Hovind, 431 N.W.2d 366, 368 (Iowa 1988). Our review of the trial court's ruling is not de novo. To secure a reversal, the State must show the trial court abused its limited discretion. State v. Edwards, 279 N.W.2d 9, 10 (Iowa 1979). This court does not defer to the trial court in the matter of the applicable law. The trial court's order must be reversed if it is found that there is no reasonable basis for it in the record. Id.

It appears there is a difference of opinion as to what standard is to be applied in determining whether a prosecutor may unilaterally withdraw a plea bargain that has been accepted by a defendant. The State contends that it is well established that absent the entry of a plea or action by a defendant constituting detrimental reliance, a plea may be withdrawn. Edwards, 279 N.W.2d at 11. Lummus contends that a plea bargain may not be withdrawn when the circumstances of doing so would render it to be a violation of "our time-honored fair play norm." State v. Kuchenreuther, 218 N.W.2d 621, 624 (Iowa 1974). A review of the law in this area will prove beneficial in assisting this court to reach its decision.

In 1971 the United States Supreme Court rendered the decision of Santobello v. New York, 404 U.S. 257, 92 S.Ct. 495, 30 L.Ed.2d 427 (1971). Santobello addressed whether a state's failure to keep a commitment concerning a sentence recommendation on a guilty plea required a new trial. The prosecutor had agreed to make no recommendation as to the sentence if the defendant agreed to plead guilty to a lesser-included offense. The defendant accepted the agreement and pled guilty. The State, however, breached the agreement and recommended imposition of the maximum sentence to the judge. The Court recognized that plea bargaining was an essential component of the administration of justice and was to be encouraged. Santobello, 404 U.S. at 260, 92 S.Ct. at 498, 30 L.Ed.2d at 431. The Court stated that fairness is presupposed in securing an agreement between an accused and a prosecutor, and it held "that the interests of justice and appropriate recognition of the duties of the prosecution in relation to promises made in the negotiation of pleas of guilty will be best served by remanding the case...." Id. at 261-63, 92 S.Ct. at 498-99, 30 L.Ed.2d at 432-33. The Court left it to the state court's discretion to determine if specific performance of the plea agreement should be entered or if the defendant should be allowed to withdraw his plea.

Three years later in State v. Kuchenreuther, 218 N.W.2d 621 (Iowa 1974), the Iowa Supreme Court was confronted with whether the state could unilaterally withdraw a plea agreement that had been accepted by the defendant. In Kuchenreuther the defendant had agreed to provide information on various criminal activities, testify with regard thereto, plead guilty to a charge of disturbing the peace, and to make full restitution of cash he had stolen. In return, the State had agreed to grant him immunity for all crimes he had committed up to and including January 10, 1972. Pursuant to the agreement the defendant had effected restitution and cooperated with the county attorney as agreed, but he was not afforded the opportunity to plead on a charge of disturbing the peace. Instead the county attorney charged him with larceny in the nighttime contrary to the provisions of the plea agreement. The Iowa Supreme Court noted the Santobello decision and particularly this language from the opinion:

[W]hen a plea rests in any significant degree on a promise or agreement of the prosecutor, so that it can be said to be part of the inducement or consideration, such promise must be fulfilled.

Id. at 624, quoting Santobello, 404 U.S. at 262, 92 S.Ct. at 499, 30 L.Ed.2d at 433. The Iowa Supreme Court concluded that to allow the prosecutor to breach the plea agreement and charge the defendant with larceny "would unduly undermine our system of justice," Kuchenreuther, 218 N.W.2d at 623, and was "nothing less than an intolerable violation of our time-honored fair play norm, and accepted professional standards." Id. at 624.

In 1979 the Iowa Supreme Court considered the ramifications of Santobello and Kuchenreuther in State v. Edwards, 279 N.W.2d 9 (Iowa 1979). In Edwards a defendant had agreed to plead guilty to assault and battery in return for dismissal of a felony charge. Before the defendant had entered a plea he was informed that the State was not going to honor the plea arrangement. In its decision the Iowa Supreme Court examined Santobello and Kuchenreuther and determined that a rule could be drawn from the cases. "The State may withdraw from a plea bargain at any time prior to, but not after, actual entry of a guilty plea by a defendant or other action by a defendant constituting detrimental reliance upon the arrangement." Id. at 11. The Edwards court concluded that as the defendant had not entered a guilty plea and since there was no evidence of detrimental reliance, the plea agreement could be withdrawn.

In State v. Strable, 313 N.W.2d 497 (Iowa 1981), the Iowa Supreme Court affirmed the rule set forth in Edwards. In Strable, the defendant was sentenced pursuant to a plea agreement in which he pled guilty to sexual abuse in return for a recommendation for a suspended sentence and probation. The trial court sentenced Strable in accordance with the State's recommendation and he began his probation with a six-month term at a community correctional residential work release facility. This sentence was vacated when it was realized that probation was not an available sentencing alternative for a conviction of sexual abuse. A second plea agreement was then made. In return for Strable's plea of guilty to lascivious acts with a child, the State agreed to recommend probation and a term at the residential facility as it had after entry of the guilty plea to sexual abuse. Before the terms of this second agreement were carried out, the State informed the defendant that it would not carry through with the second plea agreement. The defendant alleged that the time he spent at the work release facility was detrimental reliance and the State should have been forced to comply with the second plea agreement. The court dismissed this agreement because the time served was done pursuant to the first plea agreement and was not done in reliance on the second agreement for which he wanted specific performance. The court noted that the defendant had been allowed to withdraw the plea of guilty that he had entered pursuant to the first plea agreement and he was given credit for the time spent at the residential facility on his final sentence. The court cited Kuchenreuther and concluded that this handling of the matter complied with the notions of "fair play" that surround the plea bargaining process.

In State v. Epps, 316 N.W.2d 691 (Iowa 1982), the Iowa Supreme Court was forced to consider what "detrimental reliance" meant and if Kuchenreuther had in fact encompassed that standard. In Epps, an assistant county attorney...