State v. Thomason, 3666.

• Decision Date: 21 July 2003
• Docket Number: No. 3666.,3666.
• Citation: 584 S.E.2d 143,355 S.C. 278
• Parties: The STATE, Respondent, v. Dedric THOMASON, Appellant.
• Court: South Carolina Court of Appeals

355 S.C. 278

584 S.E.2d 143

The STATE, Respondent, v. Dedric THOMASON, Appellant.

No. 3666.

Court of Appeals of South Carolina.

Heard April 9, 2003.

Decided July 21, 2003.

Chief Appellate Defender Daniel T. Stacey, of SC Office of Appellate Defense, of Columbia, for Appellant.

Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Charles H. Richardson, Assistant Attorney General Deborah R.J. Shupe, all of Columbia; and Solicitor Duane Dykes White, of Anderson, for Respondent.

HOWARD, J.:

Dedric Thomason pled guilty to two counts of resisting arrest in violation of South Carolina Code Annotated section 16-9-320 (Supp.2001). During sentencing, Thomason moved to withdraw his guilty pleas, and the circuit court denied his motion. On appeal, Thomason contends the circuit court erred by refusing his request to withdraw his pleas because the state failed to abide by a plea agreement. Additionally, Thomason argues we should reverse his sentences because they resulted from the court's bias and prejudice. We affirm.

FACTS

A Greenville County grand jury returned a two-count indictment against Thomason. Each count charged him with resisting arrest involving an assault on a law enforcement officer in violation of section 16-9-320(B). Thomason pled guilty to one count, and on the remaining count, he pled to the lesserincluded offense of resisting arrest under section 16-9-320(A). Neither Thomason nor the state advised the circuit court of any plea negotiations or agreement. The state recommended probation.

The circuit court questioned Thomason to determine if he understood the nature of the offenses, the possible punishments, and the rights he would be waiving. Thomason confirmed no promises had been made to induce his guilty pleas. During this questioning, neither the state nor Thomason's attorney alerted the circuit court to any plea agreement. Having determined Thomason's pleas were knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily entered, the circuit court accepted them, stating: "All right. I'll accept his plea if the State gives me a substantial factual basis for it." The state then presented a limited summary of the facts and recommended probation. Thomason did not argue the summary was legally insufficient to support the charges.

Hearing the recommendation of probation, the circuit court immediately advised Thomason, his attorney, and the state, the circuit court was not bound by any recommendation and would be the sole judge of the sentences to be imposed. Thomason's attorney acknowledged this fact and did not mention a plea agreement to the circuit court.

Thomason's attorney then gave a factual presentation in mitigation of the offenses, shifting blame for the incident to the arresting law enforcement officers. Hearing this, the circuit court asked if the solicitor notified the officers regarding the pleas and the recommendation of probation. When the solicitor could not confirm the officers had been notified, the circuit court recessed the hearing and summoned the officers to appear.¹

Thomason then moved to withdraw his guilty pleas, arguing, for the first time, he had a plea agreement with the state limiting the state's factual presentation. Thomason claimed allowing the officers to present controverted facts would violate the plea agreement to his prejudice because he could not contest their version of events in a guilty plea as he could through cross-examination in a trial.

The circuit court refused to allow Thomason to withdraw his pleas and resumed the sentencing when one of the two officers appeared. As Thomason feared, the officer presented facts adverse to Thomason and confirmed he had not been notified of the guilty pleas or the solicitor's proposed recommendation of probation.

Following the officer's presentation, Thomason again moved to withdraw his pleas. The circuit court denied the motion, opining Thomason's attorney and the state had misled the circuit court in the factual presentation. The circuit court rejected the recommendation of probation and sentenced Thomason to one-year imprisonment for resisting arrest under subsection (A) and six years imprisonment for resisting arrest with assault under subsection (B). Thomason appeals.

ISSUES PRESENTED

I. Was Thomason entitled to withdraw his guilty pleas as a matter of right before the circuit court imposed sentence?

II. Did the circuit court abuse its discretion in refusing to allow Thomason to withdraw his guilty pleas based on the state's breach of a plea agreement?

III. Was Thomason's sentence a result of the circuit court's bias and prejudice resulting from anger at Thomason's counsel?

LAW/ANALYSIS

I. Was Thomason entitled to withdraw his guilty pleas as a matter of right before the circuit court imposed sentence?

Thomason argues he was entitled to withdraw his guilty pleas as a matter of right. We disagree.

"All that is required before a plea can be accepted is that the defendant understand the nature and crucial elements of the charges, the consequences of the plea, and the constitutional rights he is waiving, and that the record reflect a factual basis for the plea." Rollison v. State, 346 S.C. 506, 511, 552 S.E.2d 290, 292 (2001).

A guilty plea may not be accepted unless it is voluntarily and understandingly made. Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238, 242, 89 S.Ct. 1709, 23 L.Ed.2d 274 (1969); State v. Lambert, 266 S.C. 574, 577-78, 225 S.E.2d 340, 341-42 (1976). However, once a defendant enters a guilty plea, whether to allow withdrawal of the plea is left to the sound discretion of the circuit court. State v. Riddle, 278 S.C. 148, 150, 292 S.E.2d 795, 796 (1982). Thomason acknowledged he was guilty of the charges and was voluntarily pleading guilty. The circuit court questioned him to determine whether the pleas were knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently entered. At that stage, the circuit court stated it accepted the pleas pending presentation of the facts by the state. Thomason did not then move to withdraw his pleas. Next, the state presented facts legally sufficient to support the charges and recommended probation. Again, Thomason did not move to withdraw the pleas and raised no objection to the sufficiency of the factual presentation given by the state. Thomason then began to discuss sentencing issues with the court. Under the authority of State v. Cantrell, 250 S.C. 376, 158 S.E.2d 189 (1967), and State v. Barton, 325 S.C. 522, 481 S.E.2d 439 (Ct.App.1997), we conclude the circuit court accepted Thomason's guilty pleas and whether to allow withdrawal rested within the sound discretion of the circuit court.

In Cantrell, a case factually similar to this case, the defendant entered guilty pleas, which the circuit court accepted. During the preliminary stages of sentencing, the circuit court began to review the defendant's prior statement to police. In the statement, the defendant admitted multiple prior offenses. Based on this information, the circuit court indicated it was not inclined to give a probationary sentence, whereupon the defendant moved to withdraw his plea. 250 S.C. at 378, 158 S.E.2d at 190-91.

Upholding the trial court's decision to deny the motion to withdraw the pleas, the supreme court noted a guilty plea "is a confession of guilt made in a formal manner and is equivalent to and as binding as a conviction after a trial on the merits. It has the same effect in law as a verdict of guilt and authorizes the imposition of the punishment prescribed by law." Cantrell, 250 S.C. at 379, 158 S.E.2d at 191. Furthermore, "[a]n accused is not permitted to speculate on the supposed clemency of the judge and enter a plea of guilty with the right to retract it if he finds that his expectation was not realized." Id. at 380, 158 S.E.2d at 191-92. Thus, under those circumstances, our supreme court ruled the decision to deny withdrawal of the plea rested within the sound discretion of the circuit court. In Barton, the defendant entered his guilty pleas, and the circuit court began to impose sentence. Before the circuit court could complete the publication of its sentence, Barton interrupted. In a later motion for reconsideration, Barton claimed he interrupted to withdraw his guilty pleas. Under those circumstances, this Court ruled the guilty pleas were entered, and the proceeding entered the sentencing phase at the time of Barton's interruption. Therefore, refusal to allow withdrawal of the accepted pleas was limited to review for abuse of discretion. Id. at 525-28, 481 S.E.2d at 441-42.

Based on this record, we conclude the guilty pleas in this case were clearly accepted by the circuit court. Thus, once the state completed its recitation of the facts, the hearing entered the sentencing phase, and no further ruling was required to accept the guilty pleas. See Boykin, 395 U.S. at 242,

89 S.Ct. 1709; Rollison, 346 S.C. at 511,

552 S.E.2d at 292; Cantrell, 250 S.C. at 380,

158 S.E.2d at 191; Barton, 325 S.C. at 531,

481 S.E.2d at 443-44. Therefore, whether to allow Thomason to withdraw his guilty pleas was a matter resting within the sound discretion of the circuit court, and Thomason could not withdraw his pleas as a matter of right. See Riddle, 278 S.C. at 150,

292 S.E.2d at 796.

II. Did the circuit court abuse its discretion in refusing to allow Thomason to withdraw his guilty pleas based on the state's breach of a plea agreement?

Thomason argues he was entitled to withdraw his guilty pleas because the state breached the terms of a plea agreement. Thomason contends the plea agreement required the state to notify the officers and ensure their accord with the state's factual presentation and proposed disposition. We disagree.

Generally, the circuit court may conduct an inquiry broad in scope, largely unlimited either as to the kind of information it may consider or the source from which the information may come, to assist it in determining the...