Case Title: McHugh v. State

Citation: 471 N.E.2d 293

Docket Number: 584S210

State: indiana

Court: Indiana Supreme Court

Date: 1984-12-07T00:00:00Z

Document:
471 N.E.2d 293 (1984)
Gary McHugh, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Indiana, Appellee.
No. 584S210.

Supreme Court of Indiana.
December 7, 1984.
*294 Susan K. Carpenter, Public Defender, Sheila K. Zwickey, Deputy Public Defender, Indianapolis, for appellant.
Linley E. Pearson, Atty. Gen., Lee Cloyd, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.
PIVARNIK, Justice.
Defendant-Petitioner Gary McHugh appeared in person and by counsel before the Marion Superior Court on September 15, 1981, and pleaded guilty to class B felony voluntary manslaughter. At that time, sixteen-year-old Petitioner admitted that on March 2, 1981, he went to the Indianapolis home of his seventeen-year-old girlfriend, argued about the demise of their relationship and stabbed her to death. Having determined that a factual basis for Petitioner's plea existed, the trial court accepted the plea agreement Petitioner negotiated with the State and accordingly sentenced Petitioner to fifteen years imprisonment. On August 3, 1983, Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief which was denied by the Marion Superior Court. Petitioner now appeals and raises the following two issues:
1. whether Petitioner received ineffective assistance of counsel at trial since Petitioner's trial counsel allegedly misadvised him about "shock probation"; and
2. whether Petitioner's guilty plea was knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily made.
Petitioner first argues that he was misadvised by his trial counsel and thereby denied of his constitutional right to the effective assistance of counsel. Specifically, Petitioner alleges that he was coerced into pleading guilty by his trial counsel's misadvice that he would be eligible for "shock probation" notwithstanding his acceptance of the State's proposed plea agreement which stipulated a sentence of fifteen years imprisonment. We first note, as we have repeatedly, that a post-conviction action under Ind.R.P.C. 1 is a special quasi-civil remedy whereby a party can present an error which, for various reasons, was not available or known at the time of the original trial or appeal. Phillips v. State, (1982) Ind., 441 N.E.2d 201. As such, the petitioner in a post-conviction proceeding bears the burden to prove any grounds for relief by a preponderance of the evidence. The judge who presides over the post-conviction hearing possesses exclusive authority to weigh the evidence and to determine the credibility of witnesses. The reviewing court therefore will not set aside *295 the trial court's ruling on a post-conviction petition unless the evidence is without conflict and leads solely to a result different from that reached by the trial court. Metcalf v. State, (1983) Ind., 451 N.E.2d 321.
The facts adduced during Petitioner's post-conviction relief proceeding show that Attorney Stephen Burns was retained by Petitioner's mother to represent Petitioner when he initially was charged with murder. Burns previously had represented Petitioner's mother in several civil matters. Because Burns was not experienced in handling major criminal cases, he advised Petitioner and Petitioner's mother to retain a lawyer experienced in criminal matters as lead counsel. Attorney Thomas Alsip subsequently was hired to be responsible for the "technicalities" of Petitioner's case while Burns was retained to serve as a "go-between to discuss with [Petitioner] and to elicit his cooperation and to make him feel comfortable with what was going on, since [Burns] had been a friend of the family's for sometime". [Direct testimony of Stephen Burns in Record at page 161].
The instant issue of course rests on Petitioner's claim that his trial counsel misadvised him about his eligibility for "shock probation," Ind. Code § 35-4.1-4-18 [§ 35-50-1A-18 (Burns 1979) (repealed effective September 1, 1983)]. The record indicates that Petitioner testified as follows during his post-conviction relief hearing:
Contrary to Petitioner's assertions, however, the record indicates that Attorneys Burns and Alsip both testified that they never discussed "shock probation" with Petitioner. Specifically, Burns testified on direct examination as follows:
The essence of Alsip's testimony was stated during his cross-examination as follows:
We now find that an obvious conflict exists over whether or not Petitioner was advised by Burns and/or Alsip that he would be eligible for "shock probation" notwithstanding his guilty plea. As we stated above, the trial judge in a post-conviction relief proceeding has the exclusive authority to weigh the evidence and to determine the credibility of witnesses. Accordingly, we decline to reweigh the evidence in this case and accept the trial court's conclusion of law that Petitioner "failed to meet his burden of proof as to any of his allegations." With regard to Petitioner's general claim that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel, it is, of course, basic that we presume that counsel was competent and we require convincing evidence to rebut that presumption. Smith v. State, (1984) Ind., 465 N.E.2d 1105, reh. denied; Howell v. State, (1983) Ind., 453 N.E.2d 241; Lindley v. State, (1981) Ind., 426 N.E.2d 398. As the United States Supreme Court has held, the proper standard for attorney performance is that of reasonably effective assistance. Strickland v. Washington, (1984) ___ U.S. ___, 104 S. Ct. 2052, 80 L. Ed. 2d 674. Accordingly, when a convicted defendant complains of the ineffectiveness of his counsel's assistance, the defendant must show that counsel's representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness under prevailing professional norms. Petitioner has made no such showing in this case. We find no error.
Petitioner next argues that his guilty plea was not knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily given since his trial counsel misadvised him about "shock probation" and thereby induced him to plead guilty. Having found that Petitioner has failed to prove that he was misadvised by his trial counsel, we now find that he was not coerced into pleading guilty. Moreover, we find that the trial court thoroughly examined Petitioner before concluding that Petitioner's guilty plea was knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily made pursuant to his plea agreement with the State. We note the following excerpt from the record taken during Petitioner's guilty plea hearing:
The thorough examination indicated above clearly shows that the trial court fulfilled its statutory duty to insure the voluntariness of Petitioner's guilty plea. See Ind. Code §§ 35-4.1-1-3 and 35-4.1-1-4 (Burns 1979) [recodified effective September 1, 1982, as Ind. Code §§ 35-35-1-2 and 35-35-1-3 (Burns Supp. 1984)]. We so hold notwithstanding Petitioner's suggestion that this Court further expand upon our prior rulings pertaining to guilty pleas. Specifically, Petitioner would have us require a trial court to advise a defendant about his or her eligibility or ineligibility for "shock probation" before allowing that defendant to plead guilty. We believe that such an advisement by a trial court is not required by our above cited statutes and is inappropriate. After all, probation is purely a favor granted by a trial judge as there exists no right to probation or to "shock probation." Johnson v. State, (1984) Ind., 464 N.E.2d 1309; Farmer v. State, (1971) 257 Ind. 511, 275 N.E.2d 783. "Shock probation" is merely a sentencing tool available to trial judges to use when and as they wish.
As the record of Petitioner's guilty plea hearing shows, Petitioner indicated to the trial court that he would accept an executed sentence of fifteen years which was reasonable for Petitioner to accept in lieu of being sentenced to many more years if convicted of the murder charge then pending against him. Of course the minimum sentence possible for a murder conviction is thirty years. Ind. Code § 35-50-2-3 (Burns 1979). The State also presented, during the post-conviction hearing, the prosecutor in Petitioner's criminal case who testified that shortly after Petitioner's guilty plea was entered, Petitioner told him that he "could do the seven and a half (7 1/2) years easy." All of this evidence strongly suggests that Petitioner did not subjectively expect to obtain "shock probation" when he pleaded guilty as he now would have us believe. We find no error.
Finding no error, we affirm the trial court in this post-conviction proceeding in all things.
GIVAN, C.J., and HUNTER, DeBRULER and PRENTICE, JJ., concur.