Opinion ID: 2036582
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Alleged Error by District Court in Accepting Plea at Plea Hearing

Text: Carlson argues that the district court erred by failing to ask him prior to the acceptance of the plea if Carlson's plea of no contest was induced by a promise. On appeal, Carlson claims that the absence of an inquiry at the plea hearing regarding a promise made to Carlson established a fair and just reason requiring withdrawal of the plea. We do not agree. Carlson asserts that the district court erred in accepting his plea because it did not specifically ask him whether his plea was induced by any promises. Carlson relies on the decision of the Court of Appeals in State v. Jefferson, 5 Neb. App. 646, 562 N.W.2d 77 (1997), for the proffered proposition that the trial court must explicitly ask if a promise had been made prior to accepting a plea. Although the trial court must ascertain that a plea is made freely, intelligently, voluntarily, and understandingly, see State v. Irish, 223 Neb. 814, 394 N.W.2d 879 (1986), there is no requirement in Nebraska jurisprudence that a trial court must specifically ask if any promise had been made prior to validly accepting a plea. Jefferson imposes no such duty on the trial court, and Carlson's reliance on Jefferson is misplaced. We note initially that Jefferson is an appeal from the denial of postconviction relief without evidentiary hearing. At issue in Jefferson was the sufficiency of the record regarding entry of the plea and whether an evidentiary hearing was needed to resolve the postconviction motion claim that the plea was not freely entered. In this context, in Jefferson, the Court of Appeals observed that while a plea of guilty may be valid when the judge taking the plea does not ask the defendant if any promises were made to induce that plea, nonetheless, in postconviction proceedings where the defendant alleges that his or her plea was induced by some promise, the court must hold an evidentiary hearing on the issue unless the record conclusively shows that the plea was not induced by any promises, except those included in the plea bargain. 5 Neb.App. at 652, 562 N.W.2d at 81. The instant case is not a postconviction case, but, rather, a direct appeal. At issue in the instant case is whether the district court erred in denying Carlson's motion to withdraw his plea. In the instant case, the trial record on the issue of withdrawal of the plea consists of the record of the proceeding at which Carlson initially entered his plea as well as the record of the evidentiary hearing on the motion to withdraw the plea at which Carlson and his counsel testified. The record in the instant case is ample and conclusive, and we are therefore able to review both the circumstances surrounding the district court's acceptance of the plea and the propriety of the district court's denial of Carlson's motion to withdraw the plea. In the instant case, although the district court did not specifically ask Carlson at the plea hearing whether his plea was induced by any promises, in its journal entry, the district court specifically found no promises or threat had been made to Carlson prior to entering his plea of no contest. The colloquy between the district court and Carlson at the plea hearing was sufficient to support the district court's determination that the plea was entered freely, intelligently, voluntarily, and understandingly. See, e.g., State v. Irish, supra . Although such inquiry may have been prudent, the district court was not required to specifically ascertain whether any promises had been made to Carlson before accepting the plea. To the extent that Carlson claims that the district court failed to make the proper inquiry prior to the time the plea was entered and accepted, the claim is without merit. Accordingly, the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Carlson's motion to withdraw the plea on the basis of an inadequate allocution at the time of acceptance of the plea.