Title: Ex Parte Weeks

State: alabama

Issuer: Alabama Supreme Court

Document:

591 So. 2d 439 (1991)
Ex parte Donna Othella WEEKS.
(Re Donna Othella Weeks v. State.)
1900943.

Supreme Court of Alabama.
July 26, 1991.
Rehearing Denied October 11, 1991.
Douglas H. Scofield of Scofield, West & French, Birmingham, for appellant.
James H. Evans, Atty. Gen., and Stephen N. Dodd, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
KENNEDY, Justice.
We granted certiorari review in this case in order to determine whether the trial court erred in resentencing the defendant to a harsher sentence, where the first sentence was based on a guilty plea and the second sentence followed a trial.
The facts are as follows: On March 6, 1989, the defendant, Donna Othella Weeks, entered a plea of guilty to trafficking in cocaine in violation of § 20-2-80, Ala.Code 1975. The trial court accepted a plea bargain whereby Weeks was sentenced to a term of 12 years, with 3 years to be served in prison and the remainder of the sentence suspended pending Weeks's good behavior on probation for 5 years.[1] On May 25, 1989, Weeks filed a motion to withdraw the guilty plea, claiming that her attorney had had a conflict of interest and that the guilty plea had not been made knowingly and voluntarily. The trial court granted the motion and ordered a new trial.
The jury found Weeks guilty of trafficking in cocaine. The trial court sentenced Weeks to a term of 21 years, 7 months in prison. At the sentencing hearing, the trial judge stated as follows:
(R.T. 657-63.)
The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed, without an opinion 579 So. 2d 718.
In Alabama v. Smith, 490 U.S. 794, 109 S. Ct. 2201, 104 L. Ed. 2d 865 (1989), the Supreme Court addressed the question whether a presumption of vindictiveness applies when a sentence imposed after trial is greater than the sentence previously imposed after a guilty plea. In Smith, the defendant agreed to plead guilty to burglary and rape charges in exchange for the State's dismissing a sodomy charge. The trial court accepted the plea bargain and sentenced the defendant to 30 years' imprisonment on each charge. The defendant later succeeded in having his guilty pleas vacated and was tried on rape, burglary, and sodomy charges. The jury returned a guilty verdict on all three charges and the trial court sentenced him to life imprisonment on the burglary conviction, a concurrent term of life imprisonment on the sodomy conviction, and a consecutive term of 150 years on the rape conviction.
The Supreme Court held that a presumption of vindictiveness does not apply in every case where the defendant receives a harsher sentence on retrial. Only in such circumstances where there is a "reasonable likelihood" that the increased sentence is a product of vindictiveness will the presumption *441 of vindictiveness apply. Smith, 490 U.S.  at 799, 109 S. Ct.  at 2205. "Where there is no such reasonable likelihood, the burden remains upon the defendant to prove actual vindictiveness." Id.
The Supreme Court specifically held that when a greater penalty is imposed after trial than was imposed after a guilty plea, there is no automatic presumption of vindictiveness. "Even when the same judge imposes both sentences, the relevant sentencing information available to the judge after the plea will usually be considerably less than that available after a trial." Id. "[I]n the course of the proof at trial the judge may gather a fuller appreciation of the nature and extent of the crimes charged. The defendant's conduct during trial may give the judge insights into his moral character and suitability for rehabilitation." Smith, 490 U.S.  at 801, 109 S. Ct.  at 2206.
In the instant case, no evidence was presented by the defendant that indicates actual vindictiveness on the trial judge's part. In fact, the reasons given by the trial judge, stated earlier in this opinion, explain why the sentence was harsher.
All other issues presented are without merit. We affirm.
AFFIRMED.
HORNSBY, C.J., and MADDOX, HOUSTON and INGRAM, JJ., concur.
[1]  Some parts of the record indicate that the sentence called for four years to be served.