Stiger v. Commonwealth

• Decision Date: 25 October 2012
• Docket Number: No. 2008–SC–000864–DG.,2008–SC–000864–DG.
• Citation: 381 S.W.3d 230
• Parties: David STIGER, Appellant, v. COMMONWEALTH of Kentucky, Appellee.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky

381 S.W.3d 230

David STIGER, Appellant,

v.COMMONWEALTH of Kentucky, Appellee.

No. 2008–SC–000864–DG.

Supreme Court of Kentucky.

Oct. 25, 2012.

Amy Robinson Staples, Margaret Anne Ivie, Assistant Public Advocate, Department of Public Advocacy, Frankfort, KY, for appellant.

Jack Conway, Attorney General of Kentucky, Tami Renee Stetler, Office of the Attorney General, Frankfort, KY, for appellee.

Opinion of the Court by Justice ABRAMSON.

In December 2003, David Stiger pled guilty in the Jefferson Circuit Court to, among other offenses, five counts of first-degree robbery. By Judgment entered January 30, 2004, the trial court sentenced him, pursuant to the plea agreement, to concurrent terms of ten years' imprisonment for each robbery count, enhanced to twenty years by virtue of Stiger's status as a first-degree persistent felon. First-degree robbery is a “violent offense,” as that term is defined in Kentucky Revised Statute (KRS) 439.3401, the violent offender statute, and under that statute, a person convicted of a violent offense does not become eligible for parole until he has served the lesser of 85% of the sentence imposed or twenty years. Claiming that he was not apprised of the parole ramifications of his sentence and that in fact he was told by counsel that he would become eligible for parole upon having served 20% of his sentence, in January 2007, Stiger moved for relief from his guilty plea pursuant to Kentucky Rule of Criminal Procedure (RCr) 11.42. The trial court summarily denied Stiger's motion, and a unanimous panel of the Court of Appeals affirmed. Relying on this Court's opinion in Commonwealth v. Padilla, 253 S.W.3d 482 (Ky.2008), the Court of Appeals ruled that parole was a collateral consequence of a sentence and that a defendant's ignorance of or even misapprehension regarding a sentence's collateral consequences does not invalidate his guilty plea. Stiger moved for discretionary review, and during the pendency of his motion the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in Padilla v. Kentucky, 559 U.S. ––––, 130 S.Ct. 1473, 176 L.Ed.2d 284 (2010), overruling our Padilla opinion.¹ We then granted Stiger's discretionary review motion to consider his claims in light of the Supreme Court's decision. We now affirm.

RELEVANT FACTS

According to police reports, during the afternoon of July 23, 2002, two young men entered Derby City Video on South 4th Street in Louisville and, after engaging the manager in conversation for a few minutes, pulled handguns and demanded the money from the cash register. The manager opened the register, whereupon one of the men climbed over the counter into the manager's office and took the money. From the inside of the office, the robber unlocked the office door and was leaving when a customer entered the store. The robbers forced the man at gunpoint into the office, had him empty his pockets, took the cash he was carrying, and then fled.

On November 8, 2002, Henry White reported to the Louisville police that a man he had met about a week before came to the door of his home on Ormsby Avenue and asked to be let in. Inside, the man asked for something to drink, and when the two went to the kitchen, the man picked up a paring knife from the counter, held it to Mr. White's throat, and demanded his money. Mr. White resisted and, though sustaining cuts to his arms, eventually subdued the attacker. When the attacker agreed to leave, Mr. White let him go and called the police. About three weeks later an investigator showed Mr. White a photo pack, and he identified Stiger as his attacker.

On November 12, 2002, William Mootz reported to the Louisville police that a young man he knew as “Goldie” came to his home on Glenmary Avenue and asked to be let in. Once inside, the man hit him on the head with a large flashlight, then opened the door to let in a second man. The two men tied up Mr. Mootz with a sheet and proceeded to ransack his bedroom, eventually departing with jewelry, a cell phone, and Mr. Mootz's car. According to the criminal complaint, Mr. Mootz was also able to identify Stiger as the person who first came to his door.

On November 18, 2002, the Derby City Video was again robbed. A different clerk was working that afternoon, and he reported that a young man and a young woman entered the store together, that the woman asked him something, and that while he was talking to her the man came up behind him, held a knife to his throat, and demanded money. The robbers took the store's cash and the clerk's wallet.

On November 25, 2002, Louisville police officers responded to a report of disorderly conduct at Juanita's Restaurant on South Brook Street. Stiger was exiting the restaurant when the officers arrived. He was wearing a security officer's badge on his belt, but when asked about it could not explain how he came by it. Restaurant customers and workers reported that Stiger had claimed to be a police officer investigating counterfeit money, and as part of his “investigation” demanded the restaurant's cash. He became angry when the restaurant workers refused his demand. One of the workers called the police, and Stiger left, or tried to leave, when the officers arrived.

Earlier that day, a security guard at Spalding University reported to a police officer that as she was walking along the university's 4th Street side a young man came up behind her, placed one hand over her mouth, and with the other held a knife to her throat. He demanded her rings, rifled her pockets, and then demanded her security badge. The guard later identified the badge found on Stiger as the one stolen from her. After his arrest at the restaurant, Stiger gave a statement to the investigators in which he admitted participating in both of the Derby City Video robberies.

Based on this evidence, the Jefferson County Grand Jury issued two indictments against Stiger. In one of them he was charged with first-degree burglary and first-degree robbery for his November 8 attack on Mr. White. In the other he was charged with four counts of first-degree robbery (the two video store robberies, the robbery of Mr. Mootz, and the robbery of the security guard), one count of first-degree burglary (the burglary of Mr. Mootz's apartment), one count of unlawful imprisonment (the binding of Mr. Mootz), and one count of impersonating a peace officer (the restaurant incident). In a subsequent indictment, Stiger was alleged to be a first-degree persistent felony offender (PFO), with prior felony convictions for receiving stolen property and for escape.

The cases were eventually consolidated and set for trial in January 2004. First-degree robbery, KRS 515.020, and first-degree burglary, KRS 511.020, are both class B felonies punishable by imprisonment from ten to twenty years. The minimum sentence is increased to twenty years if the person convicted is found to be a persistent felon of either the first or second degree. KRS 532.080. The maximum sentence is increased to fifty years or life. Id. As noted above, first-degree robbery is also, for parole purposes, a violent offense, the perpetrator of which must serve 85% of his sentence, but not more than twenty years, before becoming eligible for parole. KRS 439.3401. First-degree unlawful imprisonment, KRS 509.020, and impersonating a peace officer, KRS 519.055, are both class D felonies punishable by imprisonment from one to five years, subject to PFO enhancement of from five to ten years. Prior to trial, the Commonwealth offered a plea bargain to Stiger whereby, in exchange for his guilty plea to all nine of the alleged offenses, it would recommend the minimum ten-year sentence for each of the seven class B felonies and five-year sentences for the two class D felonies, all to run concurrently for a total sentence of ten years enhanced to twenty years by virtue of Stiger's PFO status. Stiger accepted this twenty-year offer, and on December 16, 2003, at a hearing pursuant to RCr 8.08 and Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238, 89 S.Ct. 1709, 23 L.Ed.2d 274 (1969), moved to enter a guilty plea. The trial court granted the motion, and by Judgment entered January 30, 2004, convicted and sentenced Stiger accordingly.

Three years later, in January 2007, Stiger moved for relief from that Judgment pursuant to RCr 11.42. His pro se motion asserted three grounds for relief. He claimed first that his plea was involuntary in violation of Boykin because “he was made to believe” that he was being offered a sentence without PFO enhancement, and because at the plea colloquy “there was no mention” of the fact that he would not be eligible for parole until he had served 85% of his sentence. He next contended that trial counsel was ineffective prior to the plea by incorrectly advising him that he would be eligible for parole after serving four years instead of the seventeen years required under the violent offender statute. He also contended, finally, that counsel rendered ineffective assistance at sentencing when counsel failed to respond “to the sudden and unexpected change in the sentence that was imposed by the court” with a motion to withdraw the plea. Finding no merit to these claims, the trial court denied Stiger's motion without appointing counsel and without holding a hearing. The Court of Appeals affirmed and, following the United States Supreme Court's Padilla decision, this Court granted discretionary review. Stiger now focuses primarily on counsel's alleged misadvice concerning parole eligibility and contends that, under Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984) and Padilla v. Kentucky, 130 S.Ct. at 1473, that misadvice so tainted his plea as to invalidate it. Before addressing that particular contention, we briefly address Stiger's other claims.

ANALYSIS

As noted, Stiger seeks relief from his guilty plea pursuant to RCr 11.42 on the ground that his plea was invalid. To be entitled to relief on that ground, an RCr 11.42 movant must...