INTHE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA No. 14789

WALTER SCHANTLE, Petitioner,

ROGER CRIST, Warden, Montana StatePrison, Respondent.

OPINION AND ORDER

PER CURIAM: Original application by Walter Schantle for a 

### writof habeas corpus directed against the warden of the Montana State Prison, Roger Crist. Schantle had previously sought a 

### writof habeas corpus from the United StatesDistrictCourt for the Districtof Montana, Billings Division, but 

### writwas denied by that Court on the grounds that Schantle had not exhausted his available 

### state remedies, 0; November 22, 1976, inthe DistrictCourt for the Thirteenth Judicial Districtof Stillwater County, Schantle entered a plea of guilty toa charge of burglary involving 

### a grocery store inAbsarokee, Montana. The crimewas alleged to have occurred 

### on July 22, 1976. He

### was sentenced to ten years athard labor inthe stateprison of the State of Montana upon judgment and conviction following hisplea of guilty. Schantle seeks a declaration that his conviction was 'illegalupon these grounds: (1)that he 

### was refused the

\ right toproceed ashis own attorney inthe StillwaterCounty ~istrict Court; (2) that the DistrictCourt failed to interrogate him as to the elements constituting the 

### crime with which he was charged; (3) that the petitioner's courtappointed attorneys failed to assistpetitioner with the filing of pretrialmotions or to provide effective assistance inconnection with his defense to the charges; 

### (4) the pretrialmotions filedby petitioner 

### were not heard by the DistrictCourt; (5) that new counsel 

### was appointed for petitioner outside of hispresence incourt; and (6) thathe



### was coerced intopleading guiltyby the threat of the filing of prior convictions. Petitioner has been supplied with 

### a transcript of the proceedings thatoccurred when he entered his plea of guilty. Upon receipt of hispetition, the

### matter was referred tothe DistrictCourt of Stillwater County for a factual determination. A hearing on hispetition was conducted by Judge Jack D. Shanstrom, who 

### was called into the Thirteenth Districtin connection with this

### matteron February 28, 1980. A transcriptof the proceedings before Judge Shanstrom 

### are also part of our record here. Schantle 

### was arraigned with 

### a codefendant before the DistrictCourt inStillwater County on August 3, 1976. He stood mute astothe three counts charged against him, and the court entered hisplea of not guilty to each of the charges. The court further appointed Richard W. Heard, an attorney of Columbus, Montana, torepresent Schantle and the codefendant. We find that on August 26, 1976, Schantle, with his codefendant, wrote a letter tothe districtjudge advising that they dismissed attorney Heard and would thereafter 

### act in their own defense. On August 26, 1976, Schantle alsofiled a 

### letter entitled, A Motion for Probable Cause Hearing, asking the court to 

### set a date for the 

### same. On September 22, 1976, Schantle and his codefendant filed inDistrict Court a motion for 

### a production and suppression of evidence hearing. On October 23, 1976, Schantle and his codefendant filed incourt 

### a motion for 

### a just cause hearing and a motion that the court show cause within three days why the DistrictCourt did not grant their motion for a production and suppression of evidence hearing previously filed. On November 3, 1976, the codefendants had also filed a motion for discovery requiring the county attorney toproduce all evidence which would be used 

### atthe trial of the defendants. Attorney Heard testified before Judge Shanstrom in the hearing on the habeas corpus proceedings. He testified that

on October 27, 1976, he visited inthe jail inYellowstone County Courthouse with Schantle and the codefendant, and that they indicated an unwillingness for Heard to represent them 

### attrial. Heard then went to the presiding district judge who advised that he would appoint John Adams, an attorney inBillings, Montana, torepresent both defendants. Attorney Heard had only one conference with the defendants, that on October 27. The defendants had been removed from Columbus, Montana, the county 

### seat of Stillwater County, to the jail inYellowstone County inBillings, Montana, some forty

### miles away. After Heard received a copy of the 

### letter dismissing him as attorney, he undertook no further actions

on behalf of the defendant Schantle. John Adams testified that afterhe 

### was appointed by Judge Luedke, he visited with the defendants in the first part of November, 1976. He states thathe did not discuss any defenses with Schantle, particularly because he did notfind from a review of the county attorney's fileand the evidence therein that there 

### were any legal defenses to the charges. Hisdiscussion with Schantle

### was on the point of what could be done with the county attorney of Stillwater County toeffect the 

### least possible sentence for Schantle on the 

### crimes charged. He

### was informed by Schantle that the county attorney 

### was threatening to filenotice of prior convictions against Schantle for the purpose of increased punishment if he did not plead guilty to the charges. Trial of the charges inStillwater County against the defendant had been 

### set for November 29, 1976. On November 16, 1976, the county attorney did in fact file

### a notice of prior convictions for the purpose of seeking increased punishment against Schantle. On November 22, 1976, before the presiding judge, but inthe courtroom inYellowstone County, pursuant to agreement, the defendant, and his attorney Mr. Adams, and the county attorney of Stillwater County appeared. As the proceedings opened, Mr. Adams, inthe presence of Schantle, informed the court that Schantle had advised thatwith respect to the count of simple burglary, he would like to withdraw hisplea of not guilty and enter a new plea to that charge. The court granted thatrequest. The proceedings that followed 

### are here 

### set forth verbatim: "THE COURT: 

# . . . Mr. Schantle, under Count No. I you are charged with the 

### crimeof burglary, which was alleged tohave occurred on or about July 23rd, 1976. What isyour plea to this count? "THE DEFENDANT: Your Honor, I'd like to know what 

### I'm pleading to. "THE COURT: Allright, Count No. I says that you knowingly entered orremained unlawfully in an occupied structure with the purpose tocommit an offense therein, to-wit: defendant enteredthe business premises of Milligan's IGA store with the purpose tocommit theft. Now, that's Count No. I. That's what you're pleading to. "MR. ADAMS: Further I should indicate that the punishment, this

### crimecarries 

### a maximum punishment of ten years. I believe that iswhat you're interested in. "THE DEFENDANT: Yes. "Your Honor, I'll enter a plea of guilty to that charge if that 

### is all that 

### isgoing to be filed against me inDistrictCourt 

### as to this crime or any crimes arising outof it or as to any further action thatmight be filed against

### me stemming from my past or from the present. "THE COURT: Will, I guess, Mr. Laws, that calls for

### -- "MR. LAWS: Your Honor, Stillwater County 

### is willing todismiss Counts I1 and I11 against Mr. Schantle and 

### willnot notice any priors on the matter. "THE COURT: Allright, does that answer your question? "THE DEFENDANT: Yes, 

### sir. And I'll plead guilty. "THE COURT: Allright. Now, the penalty 

### is 

### a maximum of 10 years, Mr. Schantle, and inview of your past record you should anticipate that's probably the sentence you're going to get. I want you tounderstand that right from the beginning. "Has anybody promised you anything just toget you to come inhere and plead guilty to this count? "THE DEFENDANT: No, 

### sir. "THE COURT: Has anybody threatened you to force you to come inthismorning and plead? "THE DEFENDANT: No, 

### sir. "THE COURT: Well, they're saying thatyou went unlawfully to this IGA store for the purpose of stealing. Is thatwhat you did? "THE DEFENDANT: Yes, 

### sir. Your Honor, could I ask for a pre-sentence investigationbefore sentence ispronounced? "THE COURT: Do you have any information concerning the past record of Mr. Schantle?"MR. LAWS: Your Honor, I have an FBI rap sheet on Mr. Schantle, but other than that, the fact thathe has 

### a common-law wife and three children, I know nothing more about hisbackground. "THE COURT: Mr. Schantle, I just want tomake 

### it 

### clear thatyou understand normally you would be entitled tohave a jury 

### trial on this charge-- and one is scheduled for the 29th of thismonth-- and during that 

### trial you have the right to

### remain silentwithout your silencebeing held or used against you; and also you have the right to have all the witnesses against you appear inopen court so thatyou can 

### see them, you can hear them, and you can have them cross-examined. Now, if I accept thisplea of guilty toCount No. I, there won't be any 

### trial, there won't be any witnesses. And you have already told

### me what you have done. NOW, 

### is thatwhat you want? "THE DEFENDANT: Yes, 

### sir. "THE COURT: Well, the record may show that the Court accepts the plea of guilty toCount No. I 

### as being voluntary and with knowledge of the consequences." With respect tothe presentence investigation, Schantle



### was advised by the court that inview of hisprior record thathe would inany event

### was going toreceive a ten year sentence and that the presentence reportwould have little effect. Upon interrogation by Mr. Adams if he wanted tobe sentenced, the defendant replied "Yeah." Thereupon the courtpronounced sentence. On the foregoing, thisCourt finds and concludes that defendant entered hisplea of guilty to the 

### crimeof burglary voluntarily and with fullknowledge of the consequences; thathe did so after admitting to the DistrictCourt that he did in factcommit the act forwhich he 

### was charged. It further appears that Schantle's entry of plea was the result of a plea bargain under which he received the maximum sentence possible for simple burglary, ten years, without increased punishment by reason of prior convictions. Two other criminal

counts against him 

### were dismissed.The standard under which the validity of a guiltyplea 

### isjudged 

### iswhether the plea represents 

### a voluntary and intelligentchoice among the alternative courses of action open to the defendant 

### as affirmatively disclosed by the record. North Carolina 

### v. Alford (1970), 400 U.S. 25, 31, 91 S.Ct. 160, 164, 27 L.Ed.2d 162, 168; Brady 

### v. United States (1970), 397 U.S. 742, 747, 90 S.Ct. 1463, 1468, 25 L.Ed. 2d 747, 755; Wilkins 

### v. Erickson (9thCir. 1974)

## , 505 F.2d 761, 763; State

### v. Griffin (1975), 167 Mont. 11, 21, 535 P.2d 498, 503. We find no 

### meritin the application for habeas corpus here.DISMISSED. DATED this day of May, 1980.

Chief Justice