FOR PUBLICATION
IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS
---o0o---
STATE
OF HAWAI`I, Plaintiff-Appellee, v.
CHRISTOPHER ALLEN KIMSEL, Defendant-Appellant
NO. 25851
APPEAL
FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIRST CIRCUIT
(CR. NO. 01-1-0121)
OCTOBER 26, 2005
BURNS, CJ, LIM AND FOLEY, JJ.
OPINION OF THE COURT BY LIM, J.
Christopher Allen Kimsel (Kimsel or Defendant) appeals the May 1, 2003 findings of fact, conclusions of law and order of the Circuit Court of the First Circuit (circuit court). The circuit court's order denied the March 17, 2003 post-judgment motion that Kimsel had filed under Hawai`i Rules of Penal Procedure (HRPP) Rules 40 and 32(d) (2003) (the Rule 40 motion), which sought to set aside his no contest plea, vacate his conviction and reset this case for trial.
Because the circuit court misinformed Kimsel about his eligibility for a deferred acceptance of no contest (DANC) plea, he did not proffer his plea knowingly and voluntarily, and it was constitutionally invalid. Whereas the prejudice is plain, we vacate and remand.
The first installment of this saga is encapsulated in our opinion in State v. Kimsel, 101 Hawai`i 65, 62 P.3d 628 (App. 2002), cert. denied, 101 Hawai`i 95, 63 P.3d 403 (2003):
On or about the 21st day of August, 2000, . . . CHRISTOPHER ALLEN KIMSEL, did threaten, by word and conduct, to cause bodily injury to another person, Robert Searle, who was a public servant, in reckless disregard of the risk of terrorizing Robert Searle, and/or did threaten, by word and conduct, to cause bodily injury to another person, Robert Searle, with the use of a dangerous instrument, in reckless disregard of the risk of terrorizing Robert Searle, thereby committing the offense TERRORISTIC THREATENING IN THE FIRST DEGREE in violation of Sections 707-716(1)(c) and 707-716(1)(d) of the Hawai`i Revised Statutes. (1)
"Dangerous instrument" means any firearm, whether loaded or not, and whether operable or not, or other weapon, device, instrument, material, or substance, whether animate or inanimate, which in the manner it is used or is intended to be used is known to be capable of producing death or serious bodily injury.
On April 2, 2001, after Kimsel submitted a no contest plea form (3) to the court and the court questioned Kimsel about his knowledge of a no contest plea, the deputy attorney general described the incident in the following offer of proof:
In relevant part, the following dialogue between Circuit Court Judge Gail Nakatani and Kimsel then ensued:
A. Yes, Your Honor.
Q. On the other hand, if the motion is denied by the Court, then you will have already unconditionally pleaded no contest, and you will end up with a felony conviction on your record; do you understand that?
Q. So you understand that you are taking a risk by asking for this deferral, and the risk is that the motion may be denied; do you understand that?
Q. And is that a risk that you are willing to take?
. . . .
A. No contest.
. . . .
Mr. Kimsel, you will be referred to the Adult Probation Division, and you will return back for sentencing on Wednesday, June 13, 2001 at 8:30 a.m., and you will report immediately to the Adult Probation Division downstairs.
And I think it's undisputed. If we look at the indictment, the indictment charges in the alternative and the State alleged the use of a dangerous weapon which, by definition, includes a firearm. So if we look at the statutory definitional path, it does lead to the inclusion of the use of a firearm within the charge and so the Court does believe that, as to the indictment itself, the defendant was placed on adequate notice and was afforded due process that the charge against him included the use of a firearm.
I don't believe also that the deferral is a sentencing option, . . . .
So based on those findings, then, the Court will deny the motion for deferral and the Court does find that [Kimsel] is statutorily ineligible for this deferral consideration.
Judge Nakatani then proceeded to sentence Kimsel to probation for five years upon conditions and to imprisonment for five days with credit for time served.
I. THE TRIAL COURT
REVERSIBLY ERRED IN CONCLUDING THAT DEFENDANT KIMSEL WAS GIVEN NOTICE
CONSISTENT WITH DUE PROCESS
THROUGH THE LANGUAGE OF THE INDICTMENT TO STATUTORILY PRECLUDE THE
COURT FROM EXERCISING IT'S [sic]
DISCRETION TO EITHER GRANT OR DENY A MOTION FOR DEFERRED
ACCEPTANCE OF NO CONTEST PLEA.
A.
Relevant Sentencing Law Requires That Aggravating
Sentencing Factors
Intrinsic To The Charged Offense, Such As A Handgun,
Must Be
Alleged In The Indictment In Order To Give The Defendant Notice That
They Will Be Relied Upon At Sentencing[.]
B.
There Was No Notice Given To Defendant KIMSEL That
The Intrinsic
Circumstance Of The Use Of A Handgun Would Be Used To
Statutorily
Preclude [Kimsel] From Moving For A Deferred Acceptance Of His No
Contest Plea Under H.R.S. § 853-1.
(Emphases in the original.)
In response to Kimsel's complaint that the State's view "[w]ould [f]oster '[s]entencing [b]y [a]mbush,'" the State argues that "[n]ot only did H.R.S. § 853-4(9) serve as a limitation on the discretion of the circuit court to grant [Kimsel's] Motion for a DANC plea, it also gave notice to [Kimsel] that he was not eligible for a DANC plea."
Kimsel, 101 Hawai`i at 65-68, 62 P.3d at 628-31 (typesetting, ellipses and some brackets in the original; footnotes supplied).
The notice and judgment on appeal was filed on March 6, 2003. On March 17, 2003, a withdrawal and substitution of counsel was filed on Kimsel's behalf. (5) The same day, Kimsel's new counsel filed the Rule 40 motion. The motion cited as its procedural bases HRPP Rules 40 (6) and 32(d). (7) Kimsel argued that his no contest plea was not knowing and voluntary because he had been misled by the circuit court into believing he was statutorily eligible for a DANC plea. Because former counsel had not disabused him of that notion, Kimsel also claimed ineffective assistance of counsel.
At the start of the April 24, 2003 hearing on the Rule 40 motion, (8) defense counsel offered to put Kimsel on the stand, but the deputy attorney general (DAG) suggested that defense counsel make an offer of proof instead:
[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: And, Your Honor, this is my motion. And what I'd like to do Judge, I'll just start. And we would like to start with testimony. I'll have Mr. Kimsel take the stand.
[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Oh, okay.
[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: That would make it easier.
[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: All right. If Mr. Kimsel were called to testify, he would testify that had he had been [(sic)] informed at the time that he changed his plea that he was statutorily ineligible for deferral, he would not have changed his plea but rather he would have proceeded to trial.
[DAG]: I guess if that's what he would say, you know, we don't have any problems with that, Your Honor.
Defense counsel went on to note that in light of the factual basis proffered by the prosecution at the change of plea hearing, the circuit court, the prosecution and former defense counsel were put on notice that Kimsel was statutorily ineligible for a DANC plea, see Kimsel, 101 Hawai`i at 68, 62 P.3d at 631 ("the State, defense counsel, and the court knew or should have known that Kimsel was not eligible for a DANC plea"), but no one informed him of that fact. This being so, defense counsel argued, Kimsel was "not properly advised; therefore, . . . it was not in fact a voluntary plea because . . . at the time that he had changed his plea and actually had entered a no contest plea, he was under the opinion that he was in fact statutorily eligible for consideration of . . . a deferral."
Defense counsel also emphasized Kimsel's motivation for pleading no contest and moving for a DANC plea:
But I think that when you are -- that when you have a benefit before you, the benefit being the deferral, and certainly that is a very large benefit because, as the court's aware, you get a deferral, at the end of your probation if you're good throughout probation and you do comply with the terms and conditions, you get a dismissal. And not only do you get a dismissal but you also get an expungement of the record.
So I think that that is a very -- was a very strong motivating factor in terms of his decision to go ahead and plead guilty [(sic)] was the fact that he was not told otherwise when everybody else knew that he was not eligible to receive this benefit.
The State pointed out, however, that the circuit court told Kimsel there was a risk his motion for a DANC plea would be denied:
The court made it very clear that he needed to understand that it was not something that was automatically given. It was not a right that he was being accorded; that there was a risk that he might not be granted that DANCP; and whether he would be willing to take the risk by entering his plea and he did so. So it was not involuntary. It was not because he was not properly informed.
Defense counsel countered:
So essentially the real issue here is, you know, Mr. Kimsel's not being advised and not being properly advised. The question is is that, yes, there is a risk that it was not going to be granted, but that is when a situation where a deferral would otherwise be available to somebody.
The State also persisted in arguing that the statutory preclusion was not pellucid when Kimsel proffered his no contest plea:
In terms of the point about whether the court or anyone else was fully informed about whether the DANCP would have been precluded, I think it's clear that if the court were to review the body of legal research that was available to the court at the time that she made her ruling, there were no cases which specifically addressed the issue of whether a DANCP is precluded in the case of a terroristic threatening in the first degree charge where a dangerous instrument is used.
On May 1, 2003, the circuit court entered its findings of fact, conclusions of law and order denying Kimsel's motion. Calling Kimsel's offer of proof "the stipulated testimony of the Defendant," the circuit court found, concluded and ordered, as follows:
2. The presiding Court at the Defendant's entering of a no contest plea to the instant offense on April 2, 2001 (hereinafter "the presiding Court"), did properly inform the Defendant of the direct consequences of making his no contest plea.
4. Both at the time that the Defendant entered his no contest plea on April 2, 2001, and the time that Defendant's motion for a DANC was denied and the Defendant was subsequently sentenced on June 20, 2001, on the instant offense, there was no state case law that explicitly precluded the granting of a motion for a DANC where a firearm was used during the commission of the offense of Terroristic Threatening in the First Degree.
From the foregoing findings of fact, the
Court makes the following conclusions of law:
2. Neither is the Defendant entitled to withdraw his no contest plea because of his claim that he received ineffective assistance from his counsel at the time of his plea and his sentencing. For such a claim to have any weight, the Defendant must be able to point to a specific instance where his counsel displayed lack of skill, judgment or diligence, and that those errors or omissions resulted in the withdrawal or substantial impairment of a meritorious defense. Barnett, at 91 Haw. 27, 979 P.2d 1053. The Defendant alleged that his counsel knew or should have known that, by using a firearm to commit the instant offense, he was statutorily precluded from receiving a DANC from the Court. Defendant's prior counsel did not provide ineffective assistance to the Defendant where it was not clear that the Defendant was precluded from moving for a DANC. There was no case law at the time of Defendant's plea and sentencing that directly addressed the question of whether the Defendant was precluded from receiving a DANC for the offense of Terroristic Threatening in the First Degree where a firearm was used.
Kimsel filed his notice of this appeal on May 22, 2003.
On appeal, Kimsel claims the circuit court abused its discretion (9) in denying his Rule 40 motion. In support, Kimsel again contends the circuit court that took his plea erred, and his former counsel rendered ineffective assistance, by misleading him into believing he was statutorily eligible for a DANC plea.
HRPP Rule 32(d) provides:
A motion to withdraw a plea of guilty or of nolo contendere may be made only before sentence is imposed or imposition of sentence is suspended; but to correct manifest injustice the court after sentence shall set aside the judgment of conviction and permit the defendant to withdraw his plea.
Hence, "when a defendant moves to withdraw a plea of nolo contendere under HRPP [Rule] 32(d) after imposition of sentence, only a showing of manifest injustice will entitle the defendant to withdraw his or her plea." State v. Nguyen, 81 Hawai`i 279, 286, 916 P.2d 689, 696 (1996) (citation omitted).
Kimsel couches his criticism of the circuit court in terms of a failure to advise him of a direct consequence of his plea, in violation of constitutional principles, see State v. Dicks, 57 Haw. 46, 49, 549 P.2d 727, 730 (1976), and HRPP Rule 11 (2001). (10) "Manifest injustice occurs when a defendant makes a plea involuntarily or without knowledge of the direct consequences of the plea." Nguyen, 81 Hawai`i at 292, 916 P.2d at 702 (citations omitted).
The State responds that there was no manifest injustice here, because a defendant's statutory eligibility for a DANC plea vel non is not a direct but rather a collateral consequence of the plea, and thus, the circuit court complied with HRPP Rule 11 and all constitutional imperatives. "Courts need not inform defendants prior to accepting their guilty or nolo contendere pleas about every conceivable collateral effect that a conviction might have." Nguyen, 81 Hawai`i at 287, 916 P.2d at 697 (citation omitted).
We will not be drawn into this debate between Kimsel and the State, because the question here is not whether Kimsel was informed of a consequence -- direct or collateral -- of his no contest plea. Rather, the question before us is whether the circuit court abused its discretion in denying Kimsel's Rule 40 motion, where the circuit court taking his plea affirmatively misled him into believing he was statutorily eligible for a DANC plea.
In this latter connection, the State echoes on appeal the argument of ambiguity it made below, which the circuit court adopted in denying the Rule 40 motion: "there was no state case law [at the time Kimsel tendered his no contest plea] that explicitly precluded the granting of a motion for a DANC where a firearm was used during the commission of the offense of Terroristic Threatening in the First Degree." That is a fact, but it is neither here nor there. After the State had proffered the factual basis for the plea, the plain language of HRS § 853-4(9) needed no judicial gloss to fairly radiate the realization that Kimsel was statutorily ineligible for a DANC plea.
Considering the same "stipulated testimony of the Defendant" as the circuit court did, we come to a different conclusion under constitutional commands. Because the circuit court misinformed Kimsel about his eligibility for a DANC plea, he did not proffer his plea knowingly and voluntarily, and it was constitutionally invalid. If it is manifest injustice "when a defendant makes a plea . . . without knowledge of the direct consequences of the plea[,]" Nguyen, 81 Hawai`i at 292, 916 P.2d at 702 (citations omitted); see also HRPP Rule 32(d), it is a fortiori manifest injustice when a court affirmatively misleads a defendant about the availability of an intrinsic inducement for his plea.
In so holding, we hearken to the supreme court's general statement of the precautions demanded by the constitutional stakes involved:
We stated in Wong v. Among, 52 Haw. [420,] 425, 477 P.2d [630,] 634[ (1970)]:
The standard for determining the constitutional validity of guilty pleas "was and remains whether the plea represents a voluntary and intelligent choice among the alternate courses of action open to the defendant." North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 31 (1970).
Reponte v. State, 57 Haw. 354, 362, 556 P.2d 577, 583 (1976). See also State v. Gumienny, 58 Haw. 304, 313, 568 P.2d 1194, 1200 (1977) ("an expectation [on the part of the defendant that a plea agreement to support his DAGP would be accepted by the judge], notwithstanding that it may be reasonable, is an insufficient premise upon which to permit withdrawal of the plea, absent a showing that the expectation was improperly induced" (emphasis supplied)). Cf. United States v. Davis, 410 F.3d 1122, 1127 (9th Cir. 2005) (where defense counsel "grossly mischaracterized" the possible sentence upon a guilty plea, a post-sentence motion to withdraw the plea may be granted, if the defendant can show that absent counsel's erroneous advice, he would have insisted on a trial).
In the light of Kimsel's stipulated and unchallenged testimony -- "that had he . . . been informed at the time that he changed his plea that he was statutorily ineligible for deferral, he would not have changed his plea but rather he would have proceeded to trial" -- the prejudice is plain, and we conclude the circuit court abused its discretion in denying the Rule 40 motion.
Accordingly, we vacate the May 1, 2003 findings of fact, conclusions of law and order of the circuit court and its June 20, 2001 judgment of conviction and sentence, and remand to the circuit court with instructions to set aside Kimsel's no contest plea and allow him to plead anew.
On the briefs:
Richard D. Gronna
for Defendant-Appellant.
Lawrence A. Goya,
Senior Deputy Attorney General,
for Plaintiff-Appellee.
1.
Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) §§ 707-716(1)(c) and -716(1)(d)
(1993) provide, in pertinent part: "(1) A person commits the offense of
terroristic threatening in the first degree if the person commits
terroristic threatening: . . . . (c) Against a public servant . . . ;
or (d) With the use of
a dangerous instrument." (Format modified.) HRS § 707-715(1)
(1993) reads: "A person commits the offense of terroristic threatening
if the
person threatens, by word or conduct, to cause bodily injury to another
person or serious damage to property of another or to commit a felony:
With
the intent to terrorize, or in reckless disregard of the risk of
terrorizing, another person[.]" (Enumeration omitted; format modified.)
"Terroristic
threatening in the first degree is a class C felony." HRS §
707-716(2) (1993).
2.
HRS § 853-1 (1993 & Supp. 2004) provides,
in pertinent part:
(1)
When a defendant voluntarily pleads guilty or nolo
contendere, prior to
commencement of trial, to a felony,
misdemeanor, or petty
misdemeanor;
(b)
The proceedings may be deferred upon any of the conditions specified by
section 706-624 [(terms and conditions of probation)]. . . . The court
may defer the proceedings for a period of time as the court shall
direct but in no case to exceed the maximum sentence allowable;
provided that, if
the defendant has entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to a
petty misdemeanor, the court may defer the proceedings for a period not
to exceed
one year. The defendant may be subject to bail or recognizance at the
court's discretion during the period during which the proceedings are
deferred.
(c) Upon the defendant's completion of the period designated by the court and in compliance with the terms and conditions established, the court shall discharge the defendant and dismiss the charge against the defendant.
(e) Upon discharge of the defendant and dismissal of the charge against the defendant under this section, the defendant may apply for expungement not less than one year following discharge, pursuant to section 831-3.2.
HRS § 853-2 (1993) provides: "Upon motion made before sentence by the defendant, the prosecutor, or on its own motion, the court will either proceed in accordance with section 853-1, or deny the motion and accept the defendant's plea of guilty or nolo contendere, or allow the defendant to withdraw the defendant's plea of guilty or nolo contendere only for good cause."HRS
§ 853-3 (1993) provides: "Upon violation of a term or condition
set by the court for a deferred acceptance of guilty plea or deferred
acceptance of nolo contendere [(DANC)] plea, the court may enter an
adjudication of guilt and proceed as otherwise provided."
4.
Kimsel was represented through judgment below and on
direct appeal by
Jonathan E. Burge (Burge) and Craig T. Kimsel (Craig Kimsel).
5.
Burge and Craig Kimsel withdrew in favor of Richard D. Gronna.
6. Hawai`i Rules of Penal
Procedure (HRPP) Rule 40(a) (2003) reads, in relevant part:
(1) From Judgment. At any time but not prior to final judgment, any person may seek relief under the procedure set forth in this rule from the judgment of conviction, on the following grounds:
(ii) that the court which rendered the judgment was without jurisdiction over the person or the subject matter;
(v) any ground which is a basis for collateral attack on the judgment.
7. HRPP Rule 32(d) (2003) provides:
8. The Honorable Dan T. Kochi
presided.
9.
"When a trial court denies a motion to withdraw a
plea, the trial
court's determination will not be disturbed on appeal unless abuse of
discretion is
clearly shown. The burden of establishing abuse of discretion is on
appellant and a strong showing is required to establish it. An abuse of
discretion
occurs only if the trial court has clearly exceeded the bounds of
reason or disregarded rules or principles of law or practice to the
substantial
detriment of a party litigant." State
v. Nguyen,
81 Hawai`i 279, 286, 916 P.2d 689, 696 (1996) (citations and internal
quotation marks omitted).
10.
HRPP Rule 11
(2001) provides, in pertinent part:
(c) Advice to Defendant. The court shall not accept a plea of guilty or nolo contendere without first addressing the defendant personally in open court and determining that he understands the following:
(4) that if he pleads guilty or nolo contendere there will not be a further trial of any kind, so that by pleading guilty or nolo contendere he waives the right to a trial; and
(5)
that if he is not a citizen of the United States, a conviction of the
offense for which he has been charged may have the consequences of
deportation, exclusion from admission to the United States, or denial
of naturalization pursuant to the laws of the United States.