Title: State v. Rubin

State: minnesota

Issuer: Minnesota Supreme Court

Document:

409 N.W.2d 504 (1987) STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Wayne C. RUBIN, petitioner, Appellant. No. C2-87-119. Supreme Court of Minnesota. July 31, 1987. C. Paul Jones, Minnesota State Public Defender, Marie Wolf, Asst. State Public Defender, Minneapolis, for appellant. Hubert H. Humphrey, III, Minnesota Atty. Gen., Paul P. Kempainen, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jean Kelly, Law Clerk, St. Paul, for respondent. Considered and decided by the court en banc without oral argument. AMDAHL, Chief Justice. We granted the petition of defendant Wayne C. Rubin for review of a decision of the court of appeals affirming his sentence to a 41-month prison term for burglary in the third degree. State v. Rubin, 404 N.W.2d 13 (Minn.App.1987), petition for review granted (Minn.1987). This is the presumptive sentence under the Sentencing Guidelines based on defendant's having a criminal history score of six or more. Defendant contends that 7 of the 11 criminal history points were for forgery convictions based on a 1976 guilty plea in which he did not validly waive counsel. He argues that under State v. Edmison, 379 N.W.2d 85 (Minn.1985), the 7 convictions cannot be counted and that, therefore, his correct criminal history score should be 4 and the presumptive sentence should be 25 months. We agree with the court of appeals that the record of the 1976 guilty plea establishes that defendant validly waived counsel and that, accordingly, the trial court in the instant case properly included the 1976 forgery conviction in computing defendant's criminal history score. We disagree, however, with the court of appeals' conclusion that a trial court may accept a guilty plea to a felony charge by an unrepresented *505 defendant who has not even consulted with counsel about waiving counsel and pleading guilty. In State v. Edmison, 379 N.W.2d 85, 87 (Minn.1985), we held that "if a criminal defendant properly raises the issue, then the sentencing court may not use a prior misdemeanor conviction in computing the presumptive sentence under the Sentencing Guidelines for the current offense unless the state proves that the prior conviction was not obtained in violation of the defendant's right to counsel." The issue of what a criminal defendant who is being sentenced must do to properly raise the issue of whether his prior felony convictions were obtained in violation of his right to counsel is raised in State v. Goff, 402 N.W.2d 625 (Minn.App.1987), petition for review granted (Minn.1987), and we need not and do not address that issue in this case. It is sufficient to say that we agree with the court of appeals' ultimate conclusion in this case that the waiver of counsel in connection with the 1976 guilty plea was valid for Edmison purposes. Specifically, the transcript of the 1976 guilty plea hearing reveals that the trial court carefully interrogated defendant about his waiver of counsel, which was in writing. Defendant explained that he had discussed the case with an attorney in Red Wing, whom he named, and that as a result of that discussion he had decided to plead guilty without counsel. The trial court accepted defendant's plea after further questioning and imposed 7 concurrent 5-year terms with execution stayed and defendant given a probationary jail term. We agree with the court of appeals that the trial court in 1976 properly accepted defendant's guilty plea. We disagree, however, with the court of appeals' analysis of the issue of whether under current law a trial court should appoint counsel before accepting a waiver of counsel and a guilty plea by a criminal defendant. In Burt v. State, 256 N.W.2d 633, 635 (Minn.1977), which was a guilty plea case, we "strongly encourage[d]" trial courts to liberally use the authority provided in Minn.R.Crim.P. 5.02 before accepting waivers of counsel. That rule provides, in relevant part: The comment to R. 5.02 now provides in relevant part: The court of appeals' decision seems to draw a distinction between the appointment of counsel in cases where the defendant pleads guilty without counsel and cases where the defendant proceeds to trial without counsel. Further, it specifically says that "there is no requirement * * * that a defendant must be appointed standby counsel before waiving the right to counsel." 404 N.W.2d at 14. As we interpret R. 5.02 and the comment to the rule, a trial court may not accept a guilty plea to a felony or gross misdemeanor charge made by an unrepresented defendant if the defendant has not consulted with counsel about waiving counsel and pleading guilty. Affirmed. KELLEY, J., took no part.