Court Opinion

ID: 9848949
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 04:30:51.915311+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:18:55.139701
License: Public Domain

JON E WILCOX, J.
¶ 60. (concurring in part, dissenting in part). I agree with the court's holdings in sections I and II. However, I disagree with the majority's conclusion that the State materially and substantially breached the plea agreement in this case. The majority's decision on that issue gives insufficient consideration to the long-standing policy of making all relevant information available to a sentencing judge, *527and it will substantially hamper the State's ability to negotiate plea agreements in the future. For these reasons, I respectfully dissent.
¶ 61. As the majority notes, the prosecutor in a case such as this has the challenge of negotiating the line between two important and competing principles of law. The public has a right to have the judge consider all relevant information during a sentencing hearing, Farrar v. State, 52 Wis. 2d 651, 656-57, 191 N.W.2d 214 (1971), while at the same time the defendant has a due process right to get the benefit of any plea agreement entered into with the State. State v. Smith, 207 Wis. 2d 258, 271, 558 N.W.2d 379 (1997). The prosecutor is at the crux of this dilemma. As a quasi-judicial officer, the prosecutor must not only advocate for the State's position, but must also see that justice is done. Koenig v. State, 215 Wis. 658, 659, 255 N.W. 727 (1934). We are asked in this case if the prosecutor was successful in her attempt to balance these interests. I contend that she was.
¶ 62. We have recognized that the sentencing process is a search for the truth. Farrar, 52 Wis. 2d at 657. Accordingly, a sentencing court is entitled to consider "all the factors and a recommendation based on all of the facts then in the record." Id. at 656 (quoting Young v. State, 49 Wis. 2d 361, 369, 182 N.W.2d 262 (1971)). This right to consider all of the relevant facts goes beyond the judge's role as an independent sentencing authority, Melby v. State, 70 Wis. 2d 368, 385-86, 234 N.W.2d 634 (1975), and recognizes that the community has a stake in a fair, accurate, and fully-informed sentence as well. Farrar, 52 Wis. 2d at 656-57.
¶ 63. It is for this reason that the State is not prevented from informing the court of pertinent sentencing factors, Elias v. State, 93 Wis. 2d 278, 285, 286 *528N.W.2d 559 (1980), which can include negative character traits of the defendant. State v. Ferguson, 166 Wis. 2d 317, 325, 479 N.W.2d 241 (Ct. App. 1991). This principle is important enough that we have held that plea agreements where the prosecution agrees not to reveal information that is relevant to sentencing are against public policy and will be rejected by the courts. Grant v. State, 73 Wis. 2d 441, 448, 243 N.W.2d 186 (1976); see also State v. McQuay, 148 Wis. 2d 823, 826, 436 N.W.2d 905 (Ct. App. 1989). The prosecutor not only has a right, but a responsibility to bring relevant sentencing information to the attention of the court.
¶ 64. Still, despite our pronouncements that the court should consider all relevant information, we have recognized that the policy is not unassailable. When a defendant has validly negotiated a plea agreement with the State, the defendant has a due process right to receive the benefit of that agreement. Smith, 207 Wis. 2d at 271. Accordingly, the State is under certain limitations when carrying out its side of a plea agreement. The State cannot recommend something different than what was promised, or explicitly promise to make no recommendation, then make one. Id. at 272-73. Similarly, the prosecutor cannot undermine a plea agreement through the use of negative or qualifying language. State v. Poole, 131 Wis. 2d 359, 364, 394 N.W.2d 909 (Ct. App. 1986). Although the prosecutor is not required to advocate strongly for a recommendation, the prosecutor must clearly communicate support for the recommendation. Id.
¶ 65. Any breach of the plea agreement must be "material and substantial." Smith, 207 Wis. 2d at 272; State v. Bangert, 131 Wis. 2d 246, 289, 389 N.W.2d 12 (1986). That is, the breach must deprive the defendant of a material and substantial benefit for which he or she *529bargained. Bangert, 131 Wis. 2d at 290. We have said that a material and substantial breach will amount to a "manifest injustice." Id. at 289.
¶ 66. Here, I would hold that the prosecutor successfully balanced her competing responsibilities and did not breach the plea agreement. The prosecutor clearly and accurately expressed her recommendation, she did not qualify it or back away from it, and she did not undermine her recommendation to the court. I would find that the prosecutor clearly delineated the contents of the pre-sentence investigation (PSI) and the recommendations of the PSI writer from the recommendations of the State. The prosecutor communicated the information from the PSI in a neutral manner, and those facts were relevant to the judge's sentencing decision.
¶ 67. In this case, the prosecutor clearly informed the court of the State's recommendation three separate times. At the plea hearing, the prosecutor laid out the agreement:
On a plea to one count the state will dismiss the second count. The state will be recommending that the Court impose — withhold sentence, place the defendant on three years of probation, that as conditions of the probation the defendant be, number one, ordered to pay all arrearages, number two, pay all current support, and number three, serve 60 days in the county jail as condition time.
The prosecutor then began the sentencing hearing by restating the plea agreement:
Judge, I believe that when Mr. Williams entered his plea that we had told the Court that... we would be recommending that sentence be withheld for a period of three years — I am sorry, that he be placed on probation *530for a period of three years, that he pay arrearages and pay current child support. And then as a condition of probation he be incarcerated in the county jail for a period of 60 days.
And after objection by the defense attorney, the prosecutor concluded her sentencing remarks by reiterating the State's recommendation one last time:
... So again I will reiterate, Judge, that we are standing by our recommendation, and I have not changed that, and that's why I started off by saying we were recommending the three years probation. We had placed that on the record when the defendant entered his plea, and again'today at sentencing.
The recommendation of the State could not have been made much clearer. Each time, the State's sentencing recommendation was straightforward and unqualified.
¶ 68. When the prosecutor discussed the PSI, the language and recommendation of the PSI writer were distinguished from the recommendation of the prosecutor. Before discussing the contents of the PSI, the prosecutor began with "After reading through the pre-sentence," clearly indicating that what she was about to relay had been derived from the PSI. She later stated "The presentence writer ... had indicated she would be in court, but I don't see that she has arrived. She had made a few comments that I will relay to the Court." Again, indicating clearly that she was conveying the comments of the PSI writer and not her own recommendations.
¶ 69. After the defense objection, the prosecutor explicitly differentiated the recommendation of the PSI writer from that of the State:
[I]f I indicated anything other than what our recommendation is, the presentence was here. We were *531prepared to go to sentencing, and the agent relayed this information to us. And I am merely supplying the Court with that information. I am in no means suggesting that I am asking the Court to adopt the agent's recommendation .. . again I will reiterate, Judge, we are standing by our recommendation (emphasis added).
Again, the prosecutor was careful to identify which information came from the PSI and what constituted the State's recommendation. The prosecutor made it clear that the State's recommendation had not changed.
¶ 70. The majority takes issue with the prosecutor's statements "After reading through the presentence, it appears that I think I can best describe my impression of this defendant as manipulative and unwilling to take any responsibility" and "it was quite a contrast." Majority op. at ¶ 47. The majority suggests that, primarily through these two phrases, the State impliedly adopted the recommendation of the PSI writer and abandoned its own. I disagree.
¶ 71. I concede that the prosecutor's statements could be characterized as not enthusiastically supportive of the plea agreement, but there is no requirement that they be enthusiastic. Poole, 131 Wis. 2d at 364. The test is only whether or not the recommendation was undercut by the prosecutor's comments — whether the prosecutor explicitly or implicitly suggests that she has changed her mind about her recommendation. Reading the record as a whole, it is clear to me that the prosecutor did not change her mind, nor did she imply that she had. The recommendation of the State was explicitly and accurately repeated on three different occasions, and at none of those times was the recommendation qualified or contradicted.
¶ 72. The majority also criticizes the prosecutor's statement that "we had told the Court that we would be *532recommending ..." as indicative of the State's intent to change its sentencing recommendation. Majority op. at ¶ 49. Coupled with the repeated description of the prosecutor's actions as "covert," majority op. at ¶¶ 27, 42, 50, the majority seems to suggest that the words "would be" marked the beginning of an insidious plot by the State to back out of the plea agreement. I find this proposition difficult to accept. Because the assistant district attorney at sentencing was not the same attorney who represented the State at the plea hearing, I suggest that the words "would be" were at most a verbal hesitation to ensure that the prosecutor articulated the precise terms of the agreement, rather than the unveiling of some vile scheme. Taken as a whole, I would find that the prosecutor's statement accurately reflected the plea agreement.
¶ 73. I also disagree with the majority's treatment of the line of court of appeals cases that deal with this issue. For instance, in Poole, 131 Wis. 2d 359, the court of appeals recognized that the primary transgression in the breach of a plea agreement is the use of negative or qualified language when making the sentencing recommendation. Id. at 364. Similarly, any negative facts relayed to the court must not be rendered in a less-than-neutral manner. Id. In Poole, the prosecutor followed his agreed-to sentencing recommendation immediately by noting that the recommendation was agreed to " 'before we knew of the other instances. But that is our agreement'". Id. at 360. The court held this to be a breach of the plea agreement. Id. at 364.
¶ 74. In the present case, this type of qualification simply did not occur. The prosecutor's discussion of the contents of the PSI was a neutral recitation of the facts, to which the court was entitled. The recommendation was not couched in qualifying terms, and at no time did *533the prosecutor suggest that her recommendation had changed on account of the information in the PSI.
¶ 75. I find that this case is much more similar to State v. Hanson, 2000 WI App 10, 232 Wis. 2d 291, 606 N.W.2d 278 (Ct. App. 1999), than Poole. In Hanson, the prosecutor stated several times that she " 'certainly [stood] by the plea agreement'" and that she did not intend to " 'contravene the plea agreement in any way.'" Id. at ¶ 26. After affirming the State's recommendation, the prosecutor went on to describe the violent nature of Hanson's crime, then stated:
Judge, there was a plea agreement in this case; I stand by the plea agreement. Having said that, this is an extremely violent case. This is an individual who constitutes a clear and present danger, not only to the two women who have been in intimate relationships with the Defendant, but also to the community at large. I urge the Court to consider all of the information that has been presented to the Court, in fashioning a sentence that is both fair to the Defendant and to the victim.
Id. at ¶ 9. In finding that the State had not breached the plea agreement, the Hanson court noted that the prosecution had "strongly affirmed the plea agreement and did not make any statements that expressly, covertly or otherwise suggested that the State no longer adhered to the agreement." Id. at ¶ 29. The court held that the remarks had not been "a less than neutral statement of its sentencing recommendation under the plea agreement." Id. at ¶ 30.
¶ 76. This is almost exactly what happened in the present case. Here, the prosecutor clearly stated that she supported her plea recommendation, despite the fact that the information from the PSI was negative. At no time did the State back away from its agreement or *534express reservations about its recommendation, as the majority suggests. See majority op. at ¶ 49. When a question arose as to whether the State was reneging on the plea agreement, the prosecutor clearly restated the State's recommendation. Rather than back away from the recommendation, the prosecutor affirmed it.
¶ 77. Likewise, in State v. Ferguson, the prosecutor was found not to have breached a plea agreement when he spoke at some length about the severity of the offense, characterized the defendant's actions as "perverted" and "the sickest case I have seen," and described the defendant as a "sleaze." Ferguson, 166 Wis. 2d at 319-20. The court held that given the unique structure of the plea agreement — that the State had agreed to recommend an imposed and stayed sentence, but was allowed to argue for the maximum-length sentence— the State could bring relevant aggravating factors to the court's attention without breaching the plea agreement. Id. at 324-25. The Ferguson court noted that "pertinent [sentencing] factors relating to the defendant's character. . . cannot 'be immunized by a plea agreement between the defendant and the state.'" Id. at 324 (quoting Elias v. State, 93 Wis. 2d at 285).
¶ 78. The plea agreement here is not nearly as unusual, but the prosecutor was similarly able to remain true to her recommendation. Using language much milder language than that used in Ferguson, the prosecutor stated her recommendation, and affirmed it several times, despite relaying the negative information about Williams from the PSI.
¶ 79. State v. Jorgensen, 137 Wis. 2d 163, 404 N.W.2d 66 (Ct. App. 1987), likewise supports the holding that the State did not breach the agreement. Jorgensen involved the interpretation of the terms of a prosecutor's agreement to "stand silent" at a sentencing *535hearing. Id. at 169-71. Applying principles of contract law, the court noted that such an agreement did not prevent the prosecutor from commenting if the defendant were to make errors of fact or law, as such an interpretation would have been against public policy. Id. at 170-71. The majority seems to imply that Jor-gensen limits a prosecutor to correcting factual errors. This was not the holding in that case. Rather, Jorgensen further supports the principle that the prosecutor is not required to remain silent regarding information relevant to the sentencing court.
¶ 80. Finally, the majority's comparison of this case to State v. Smith, 207 Wis. 2d 258, is simply unreasonable. In Smith, the prosecutor had agreed to make no sentencing recommendation in exchange for a no contest plea and instead recommended a sentence of 58 months at the sentencing hearing. Id. at 272. This was a blatant violation of the unambiguous terms of a plea agreement, the likes of which did not occur in this case. Here, the prosecutor agreed to recommend that Williams receive three years probation, a payment of all arrearages and current child support, and 60 days in jail as a condition of probation. This is what the State recommended — three times.
¶ 81. In sum, I would hold that the plea agreement was not breached, let alone materially and substantially breached, because Williams did not lose the benefit for which he had bargained. Williams agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a recommendation from the State that he pay all arrearages, receive a sentence of probation, and serve 60 days in jail as a condition. This is what he got.
¶ 82. By finding that the State materially breached its plea agreement with Williams, the court sets a worrisome precedent. Despite this court's long*536standing affirmation that a trial court is entitled to all relevant sentencing information, the court today would severely deter prosecutors from bringing negative but relevant information to the court's attention. As a result, the courts will be less able to sentence a defendant based on a full and fair consideration of the pertinent facts. As Judge Nettesheim pointed out in his dissent in the court of appeals, the prosecutor should not be turned into the proverbial" 'potted plant'" and should not be forced to withhold information that is relevant to sentencing. State v. Williams, 2001 WI App 7, ¶ 27, 241 Wis. 2d 1, 624 N.W.2d 164. Finding that the prosecutor breached her agreement to Williams will do precisely that.
¶ 83. Likewise, this decision will discourage prosecutors from providing such information out of a fear of losing the benefit of their plea agreements. By forcing a prosecutor to choose between remaining silent at a sentencing hearing, or potentially breaching the plea agreement, prosecutors will likely become wary of making information available to the court. Furthermore, they may be reluctant to enter into plea agreements altogether, and thereby deprive defendants, the public, and the criminal justice system of their benefits. As the U.S. Supreme Court stated in Santobello v. New York:
Disposition of charges after plea discussions is not only an essential part of the process but a highly desirable part for many reasons. It leads to prompt and largely final disposition of most criminal cases; it avoids much of the corrosive impact of enforced idleness during pretrial confinement for those who are denied release pending trial; it protects the public from those accused persons who are prone to continue criminal conduct even while on pretrial release; and, by shortening the time between charge and disposition, it enhances what*537ever may be the rehabilitative prospects of the guilty when they are ultimately imprisoned.
404 U.S. 257, 261 (1971).
¶ 84. In conclusion, I would find that the State upheld its end of the plea agreement by clearly stating and standing by its sentencing recommendation. Additionally, I would find that the prosecutor presented the information from the PSI in a neutral manner, and never adopted the recommendation of the PSI writer. The information from the PSI was relevant to sentencing, however, and its provision was consistent with the strong public policy of ensuring that the court is fully informed of all sentencing factors. There was no material and substantial breach of the plea agreement. Accordingly, I would reverse the decision of the court of appeals and would reinstate Williams' sentence as determined by the circuit court.
¶ 85. For the foregoing reasons, I respectfully dissent.
¶ 86. I am authorized to state that Justices N. PATRICK CROOKS and DIANE S. SYKES join this dissent.