Opinion ID: 2552150
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: False Representations by Trial Court

Text: In his final assignment of error, Helm claims the trial court deprived him of due process by inducing him to plead guilty by falsely representing that it had the power to suspend a sentence imposed by a federal court in California. He bases that claim on a transcript of his sentencing hearing in which the trial court is reported to have said: The Court has the discretion to order the sentences in number 1599 and 1603 to run concurrently with or consecutively with the sentence in criminal number 1559; and suspend the sentence in the United States District Court in California in case number 93-545(A). (Emphasis added.) Both the official court reporter and a freelance reporter attended and reported Helm's change of plea and sentencing hearing on August 7, 1998. In preparing his brief for this appeal, Helm relied on the transcript of the freelance reporter. Upon receipt of Helm's brief, the state examined the transcript from the official reporter and found a discrepancy. The state then filed a Motion to Correct Record, asking the trial court to find the freelance reporter had erred and the official reporter had correctly reported the hearing. The court so ordered. As corrected, the contested portion of the record now reads: The Court has the discretion to order the sentences in number 1599 and 1603 to run concurrently with or consecutively to the sentence in criminal number 1559; and the defendant's sentence in the United States District Court of California in case number 93-545(A). (Emphasis added.) The corrected record accurately reflects the contents of a plea agreement signed by Helm and the state prior to the hearing. The record having been corrected, Helm's argument is unsupported and must fail. The judgments and sentences of the trial court are affirmed in all respects.