Court Opinion

ID: 9795031
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 03:16:28.445296+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:22:52.352067
License: Public Domain

EDMONDS, J.
I concur in the judgment of reversal but do not agree with my associates that if the representation of the attorney for the defendant in a criminal prosecution includes a purported commitment by a responsible state officer which, if actually made, would vitiate the plea of guilty, and if the acts or statements of such state officer, although innocently done or made, apparently substantially corroborate the representation, and are in good faith and without negligence relied upon by the defendant, and in truth operate to prevent the exercise of his free will and judgment, the plea may be challenged as having been improperly induced. This rule is an entirely new one and, in my opinion, it will provide the means whereby unjustified attacks may be successfully made upon pleas accepted by courts in good faith and judgments which have become final.
Under the rule now laid down, the plea may be set aside upon the sole ground that although no promise or representation was made by the trial judge or other responsible officer, the act or statement of one or both of them innocently made appear to corroborate the misrepresentation made by the defendant’s counsel. It would seem that this novel innovation in the criminal law should require that at least one of the “corroborating circumstances should unequivocally justify a conclusion by the accused that an agreement as to the punishment to be imposed had been arranged in his behalf with the state. If, as in the present case, one convicted of a crime may escape judgment and have his plea of guilty set aside merely because there were acts or statements innocently made by an official of the state which might or might not corroborate a representation by counsel, the finality of the judgment in a criminal case will depend largely upon uncertain circumstances which, although innocently occurring, may be claimed to have been relied upon as evidencing the existence of a promise made by the state.
But even if it be assumed that the new rule should be added to the criminal law, the facts of the present case, in my opinion, conclusively show the lack of two essential elements which prevent its application to relieve the defendants. Certainly *446there is no substantial evidence whatever justifying a finding that either Gilbert or Lovelace in good faith relied upon the asserted representations of their attorney, and there is much evidence directly tending to show that each of the defendants in pleading guilty exercised his free will and independent judgment.
Neither of the defendants was a novice in crime or court procedure. Gilbert had suffered four prior convictions, Lovelace one. Gilbert’s sophistication is evidenced in his testimony on the motion, as follows: “And I want that thoroughly understood now, that at no time would I ever consider any plea of any kind whatsoever, in any shape, if I hadn’t had a guarantee; and I thought I took all precautions necessary without a signed statement by all parties involved. With the exception of that, I thought I had taken all the necessary precautions. That’s why I was willing to even go to trial with a public defender. I didn’t want no part of the plea until I actually got a guarantee and, as Mrs. Bates said, ‘ I have the Judge’s word for it that you will get life.’ ”
The same defendant, in relating a conversation assertedly had with Mrs. Bates relative to the charges of prior convictions, testified: “Also at that time I says, ‘I’ll admit one prior, but as far as the other priors are concerned I can’t admit them.’ And she says, ‘Why not?’ At that time I also told her that, if I remember right, Section 642 to 646 of the Penal Code covered prior convictions. I also told her what these prior convictions were, and that the Penal Code, to my knowledge, stated very definitely that in order for it to be a prior conviction that it must be a separate information filed and that you had served time on each individual charge, to be a prior. I explained to her that instead of these four it actually was one. I says, ‘On those conditions I will admit one prior; otherwise I will deny them all.’ And she says, ‘Well, that’s Mr. Veitch’s idea of making you serve more time.’ ”
It does not seem likely that a person who so advised his attorney was misled by her. Furthermore, one of the criticisms now leveled at Mrs. Bates is that, at the trial of Max Gilbert, she did not cross-examine prosecution witnesses but instead advised the defendants not to antagonize them. The fact that the defendants were so greatly interested in the testimony being given at that time clearly shows that neither they nor their counsel then considered that they had any *447agreement as to the sentences which might be pronounced, and very certainly were not relying upon any commitment made by the district attorney.
Also, according to the rule now promulgated, reliance upon an asserted representation must be without negligence on the part of the defendant. In the present case, upon the hearing for the purpose of taking evidence to fix the degree of the crime to which Gilbert and Lovelace had pleaded guilty, the trial judge read a prepared statement in which he announced his intention to impose a sentence of death upon each of them. Certainly, if either of the defendants had pleaded guilty upon the inducement now stated by them, it is reasonable to suppose that one or both of them at that time would have asked permission to change his plea. If the law is to afford relief upon the narrow ground that acts or statements innocently made by the prosecuting officer or the trial judge might reasonably be considered by a defendant as corroboration of representations assertedly made by his counsel, not later than the time of sentence he should be required to disclose the circumstances claimed to have been relied upon by him in pleading guilty.
For these reasons, in my judgment, the order appealed from should be reversed without the qualification that either defendant may apply anew for relief in the nature of a writ of coram nobis.