Opinion ID: 2633434
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Heading: Effect of Illegal Sentences on Plea Agreements

Text: A plea of guilty must be voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently made in order to be valid and constitutional. See Henderson v. Morgan, 426 U.S. 637, 644-45, 96 S.Ct. 2253, 49 L.Ed.2d 108 (1976); Lacy v. People, 775 P.2d 1, 4-6 (Colo.1989). A guilty plea that is induced by misrepresentation, fraud, or coercion is not voluntary. See Brady v. United States, 397 U.S. 742, 748, 90 S.Ct. 1463, 25 L.Ed.2d 747 (1970); People v. Kyler, 991 P.2d 810, 816 (Colo.1999). When a defendant enters into a plea that is not voluntary or knowing, he may withdraw his plea and plead anew. The voluntary nature of a plea agreement may come into question when an agreement includes provisions for an illegal sentence. Several courts, including this one, have addressed this situation and held that under certain circumstances, a plea of guilty cannot stand where subsequently it is determined the sentence recommended and imposed is illegal. See Chae v. People, 780 P.2d 481, 486 (Colo.1989); see also Forbert v. State, 437 So.2d 1079, 1081 (Fla.1983) (It is a well-established principle of law that a defendant should be allowed to withdraw a plea of guilty where the plea was based upon a misunderstanding or misapprehension of facts considered by the defendant in making the plea.); Rojas v. State, 52 Md.App. 440, 450 A.2d 490, 492 (1982); People v. Benard, 164 Misc.2d 323, 624 N.Y.S.2d 744, 748 (N.Y.Sup.1995); State v. Turgeon, 161 Vt. 561, 641 A.2d 88, 89 (1993). In Chae, the defendant entered into a plea agreement that provided that any prison sentence would be suspended as long as he complied with three conditions. See 780 P.2d at 482. The trial court accepted the plea agreement, sentenced the defendant to an eight-year term of incarceration, and suspended the sentence subject to the defendant satisfying certain conditions. See id. at 483. The defendant subsequently failed to satisfy the agreed-upon conditions and he was arrested on a bench warrant. See id. The court of appeals held that the sentence imposed by the trial court was illegal because the criminal sentencing provisions did not authorize a trial court to suspend execution of a sentence of imprisonment. However, the court of appeals held that the defendant received the sentence for which he had bargained, and was thus subject to its terms. See id. at 484. We affirmed the court's holding that the sentence was illegal, but reversed on the issue of the proper remedy. We held: [W]hen a defendant enters into a plea agreement that includes as a material element a recommendation for an illegal sentence and the illegal sentence is in fact imposed on the defendant, the guilty plea is invalid and must be vacated because the basis on which the defendant entered the plea included the impermissible inducement of an illegal sentence. Id. at 486. We rejected the benefit of the bargain theory, stating that no sound public policy supported permitting parties to bargain for an illegal sentence. See id. at 487. Four years later, in Montoya v. People, 864 P.2d 1093 (Colo.1994), we addressed a similar situation in which a defendant was sentenced to an illegal sentence after accepting a plea agreement. However, Montoya differed from Chae in one significant respect: although the sentence imposed was illegal, the plea bargain itself was legal and enforceable. As such, we reached a different conclusion, upholding the plea agreement despite the illegal sentence. See Montoya, 864 P.2d at 1095. In Montoya, the defendant accepted an agreement in which he would plead guilty to two charged counts, and in exchange, the state would dismiss all remaining counts and would stipulate to a four-year concurrent probationary sentence. See id. at 1094. The district court accepted the plea agreement, sentenced the defendant to two years on each count to run consecutively, suspended the sentence, and placed the defendant on a four-year probation period. See id. In subsequent proceedings, the district court held that the initial sentence was illegal [2] but found that the defendant received precisely what he had bargained for and refused to allow the defendant to withdraw his plea. Id. at 1095. The court of appeals affirmed. See id. We affirmed the court of appeals, stating, Although the district court's suspension of Montoya's prison sentence and imposition of probation was invalid, the plea agreement supports the sentence of probation. . . . Montoya got exactly what he bargained for  four years of probation. Id. Because the plea bargain itself was legal, issues of constitutionality and public policy present in Chae were not present in Montoya. The illegal sentence in Montoya could be reconciled with the legal plea bargain and the defendant was thus given the benefit of his bargain. Other states have adopted this or similar approaches. See, e.g., State v. Gourdin, 156 Ariz. 337, 751 P.2d 997, 999 (Ariz.Ct.App.1988) (allowing a modification of a sentence to give the defendant what he bargained for without any prejudice to him); State v. Wilson, 206 N.J.Super. 182, 502 A.2d 46, 47 (1985) (holding that where illegal plea agreement could be remedied in the defendant's favor and the balance of the agreement was well understood by defendant, no sound reason existed to permit defendant to withdraw his guilty plea); Commonwealth v. Zakrzewski, 460 Pa. 528, 333 A.2d 898, 900 (1975) ([W]here a plea bargain has been entered into and is violated by the Commonwealth, the defendant is entitled, at the least, to the benefit of the bargain.). Accordingly, in order to determine the appropriate remedy in the case before us, we must analyze both the plea agreement and sentence for legality.