Court Opinion

ID: 9689780
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 18:46:50.168182+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:18:52.207421
License: Public Domain

LANSING, Judge
(dissenting)
I respectfully dissent. I agree that written findings on guidelines departures help assure uniformity in sentencing, but I cannot agree that the holding of Givens is dictum that this court can disregard. Neither can I discern legislative intent to overrule Givens in the legislature’s subsequent amendment to the sentencing guidelines.
The supreme court in Givens held that a defendant may waive his right to be sentenced under the guidelines and, therefore, may agree to a departure as part of a plea agreement. 544 N.W.2d at 777. That holding resolved a recurring issue — namely, whether a plea agreement providing a negotiated sentence duration is sufficient to support a departure. See State v. Pearson, 479 N.W.2d 401, 405-06 (Minn.App.1991) (holding that defendant’s admissions in pleading guilty made plea agreement adequate grounds for departure), review denied (Minn. Feb. 10, 1992); cf. State v. Synnes, 454 N.W.2d 646, 647 (Minn.App.1990) (holding that plea agreement was not adequate basis for departure), review denied (Minn. June 26, 1990). The supreme court’s opinion on this core issue, even if it were dictum, is entitled to considerable weight. See In re Estate of Bush, 302 Minn. 188, 207, 224 N.W.2d 489, 501 (1974) (assigning considerable weight to dictum that contains strong indication of court’s opinion on question directly involved and argued).
The legislature has amended the sentencing guidelines statute in response to Givens. See 1997 Minn. Laws ch. 96, § 1. But the pre-amended statute was not central to the Givens analysis, and the Givens court merely referred to it in passing. See Givens, 544 N.W.2d at 774 n. 1 (noting history of sentencing guidelines, including enactment of Minn.Stat. § 244.09 (1994) establishing guidelines commission). The majority implies that the Givens court acknowledged that Minn.Stat. § 244.09, subd. 5 required the district courts to follow the guidelines. But that language was not added to the statute until the 1997 amendment. Thus, Minn.Stat. § 244.09, subd. 5 was not at issue in Givens, and the 1997 amendment to that statute does not undermine the Givens holding that a negotiated sentence duration is sufficient to support a departure unless the amendment demonstrates a legislative intent to overrule Givens.
*493The 1997 amendment merely states that sentencing pursuant to the guidelines “is not a right that accrues to a person connoted of a felony” but, rather, a procedure rooted in public policy. Minn.Stat. § 244.09, subd. 5 (2000). This language expresses disagreement with the Givens characterization of guidelines sentencing as a “right.” But it is silent on the Givens analysis that is at issue here — whether a sentencing departure may be based solely on a plea agreement. Furthermore, another provision in the same law prohibits the guidelines commission from making a plea agreement an impermissible grounds for departure. 1997 Minn. Laws ch. 96, § 11(a). The law also directs the guidelines commission to study “the advisability of allowing a plea agreement to be used as a reason for a departure.” Id., § 11(b). Thus, no legislative intent to overrule Givens can be read into the 1997 amendment. Accordingly, I believe this court must follow Givens and affirm the sentencing departures.
The majority extends its criticism of the “rights” analysis in Givens too far. The Givens court posited a “right to be sentenced under the guidelines,” 544 N.W.2d at 777, in the context of an agreed-upon upward departure. Nothing in the opinion suggests that a defendant has a right to the presumptive sentence that would bar any upward departure even when aggravating circumstances exist.
Finally, the majority appears to remand to allow the district court to amplify the factual basis for the plea. But appellant has not raised that issue on appeal. Furthermore, the usual remedy for an inadequate factual basis, withdrawal of the plea, is a remedy Misquadace does not seek. See State v. Ecker, 524 N.W.2d 712, 716 (Minn.1994) (involving petition for postcon-viction relief to withdraw a guilty plea for lack of proper factual basis).