State v. Cuttler

436 P.3d 278

STATE of Utah, Appellant,

v.James Robert CUTTLER Sr., Appellee.

No. 20170396-CA

Court of Appeals of Utah.

Filed September 7, 2018

Sean D. Reyes and Jeffrey S. Gray, Salt Lake City, Attorneys for Appellant

Emily Adams and Cherise M. Bacalski, Attorneys for Appellee

Opinion

Christiansen Forster, Judge:

¶ 1 The State charged James Robert Cuttler Sr. with six first-degree felonies, including rape of a child, sodomy upon a child, and aggravated sexual abuse of a child. Due to a previous conviction for sodomy upon a child, each count potentially subjected Cuttler to an enhanced penalty of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Cuttler ultimately agreed to plead guilty to one count of rape of a child without the enhancement, which carried a 25-years-to-life prison sentence. Before sentencing, Cuttler moved to withdraw his guilty plea and the district court granted that motion after an evidentiary hearing. The State appeals. We agree with the State that the district court exceeded its discretion in granting Cuttler's motion to withdraw his guilty plea, and we therefore reverse.

BACKGROUND

¶ 2 In October 2012, a seven-year-old child reported to authorities that Cuttler engaged in sexual intercourse with her. Soon after the report, the State charged Cuttler with two counts each of rape of a child, Utah Code Ann. § 76-5-402.1 (LexisNexis 2012) ; sodomy on a child, id. § 76-5-403.1; and aggravated sexual abuse of a child, id. § 76-5-404.1. Because Cuttler has a prior conviction of sodomy on a child, each of the six charges carried the possibility of an enhanced penalty, subjecting Cuttler to life in prison without the possibility of parole. See id. §§ 76-5-402.1(2)(b)(ii), -403.1(2)(b)(ii), -404.1(5)(c).

¶ 3 The State notified Cuttler of its intent to introduce evidence of his prior conviction for sexually molesting two different victims in another state, but the district court concluded that the evidence would be excluded at trial. On interlocutory appeal, the Utah Supreme Court reversed the district court's order. See generally State v. Cuttler , 2015 UT 95, 367 P.3d 981. Pending disposition of the evidentiary issue in the supreme court, Cuttler allegedly fled from Utah while on pretrial release, resulting in the State filing additional charges against him.

¶ 4 Following the supreme court's decision and the new charges, the State offered Cuttler a plea deal for global resolution of all charges. It offered to let him plead guilty to one count of rape of a child in exchange for the State's agreement to remove the enhanced life-without-parole penalty on that charge, to dismiss the remaining five charges, and to dismiss the separate case for fleeing the jurisdiction. Cuttler agreed to these terms. In the written plea agreement, Cuttler acknowledged that "[he] did have sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 14," which constituted a first-degree-felony rape of a child and carried a punishment of "25 years to life."

¶ 5 At the plea hearing, the prosecutor informed the court that Cuttler intended to plead guilty to rape of a child, identifying it as "Count I without the enhancement. That is a mandatory 25 to life, however." During the plea colloquy, the district court identified the sentence as "25 years to life ... in the Utah State Prison" and asked Cuttler if he understood that the charge carries a "mandatory 25 years to life" sentence. Cuttler responded "Yes." The district court also stated that the charge required mandatory imprisonment, which Cuttler acknowledged he understood. At the conclusion of the hearing, the court found Cuttler to be "proceeding voluntarily, knowingly[,] and with full understanding," and it subsequently endorsed his guilty plea.

¶ 6 Prior to sentencing, conflict counsel appeared on behalf of Cuttler and moved to withdraw his guilty plea, which motion the State opposed. The district court held an evidentiary hearing at which Cuttler and his prior Plea Counsel testified.¹ Cuttler explained, "[W]e discussed 25 to life, not mandatory 25 to life." Cuttler could not recall whether his Plea Counsel had ever used the word "mandatory" in their discussions of the sentence or if counsel had advised him that the judge would have the ability to reduce the sentence below 25 years. Cuttler argued that his plea was not knowingly made, because "he did not understand that the Court lost discretion to reduce his sentence below 25 years in prison."

¶ 7 The district court ultimately agreed that Cuttler's plea was not made knowingly. Specifically, the court determined that, by entering the plea,

[Cuttler] was subjecting himself to a mandatory sentence that included time in the Utah State Prison for a term of 25 years to life. However, he did not know that he was subjecting himself to a minimum mandatory sentence of 25 years. He understood that the sentence was mandatory, but in no part of the record was he made aware that the sentence was a minimum mandatory sentence that took away all discretion from the judge or the State of Utah Board of Pardons.

The district court further concluded that it fully complied with rule 11 of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure in taking the plea. The State timely appealed. See Utah Code Ann. § 77-18a-1(3)(c) (LexisNexis 2017).

ISSUE AND STANDARDS OF REVIEW

¶ 8 The State contends that the district court erroneously granted Cuttler's motion to withdraw his guilty plea. We review the district court's resolution of a motion to withdraw a guilty plea for abuse of discretion, and we review the district court's related findings of fact for clear error. State v. Beckstead , 2006 UT 42, ¶ 7, 140 P.3d 1288. The district court abuses its discretion when its decision is "beyond the limits of reasonability," State v. Olsen , 860 P.2d 332, 334 (Utah 1993) (quotation simplified), or where the district court made a mistake of law, see State v. Barrett , 2005 UT 88, ¶ 17, 127 P.3d 682. "Appellate courts must also determine ... whether the defendant actually understood the charges, the constitutional rights, and the likely consequences of the plea and voluntarily chose to plead guilty." State v. Candland , 2013 UT 55, ¶ 16, 309 P.3d 230.

ANALYSIS

¶ 9 In this case, the State challenges the district court's decision to grant Cuttler's motion to withdraw his guilty plea. Particularly, the State asserts that the district court erred in determining that the applicable sentence was a "minimum mandatory sentence." See Utah R. Crim. P. 11(e)(5). Because the court concluded that the sentence to be imposed in this case required a minimum mandatory period of incarceration, it determined that Cuttler's guilty plea was not entered knowingly. That is, the district court concluded that, because Cuttler never heard the words "minimum mandatory" uttered during the plea hearing, Cuttler could not understand the "minimum mandatory nature" of his sentence. See id. We first consider the applicable sentence in this case, and then we review the guilty plea and the district court's authorization of withdrawal of that plea.

I. The Applicable Sentence

¶ 10 Rape of a child, a first-degree felony, is "punishable by a term of imprisonment of ... not less than 25 years and which may be for life." Utah Code Ann. § 76-5-402.1(2), (2)(a) (LexisNexis 2017).² Under the circumstances of this case, imprisonment is mandatory after conviction. Id. § 76-5-402.1(5) ("Imprisonment under this section is mandatory....");³ see also id. § 76-3-406(1), (1)(f) (providing that "probation may not be granted, the execution or imposition of sentence may not be suspended, the court may not enter a judgment for a lower category of offense, and hospitalization may not be ordered, the effect of which would in any way shorten the prison sentence for any person who commits ... rape of a child").⁴ Consequently, by pleading guilty, Cuttler subjected himself to a sentence of mandatory imprisonment of 25 years to life. The written plea agreement between the parties set forth the applicable punishment for the crime of rape of a child. The district court also explained, and confirmed that Cuttler understood, that conviction for rape of a child would subject Cuttler to mandatory imprisonment for 25 years to life.

II. The Guilty Plea

¶ 11 Having been informed of the applicable sentence, Cuttler pleaded guilty to one count of rape of a child. A guilty plea is valid "only if it is made ‘voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently, with sufficient awareness of the relevant circumstances and likely consequences.’ " State v. Alexander , 2012 UT 27, ¶ 16, 279 P.3d 371 (quoting Bradshaw v. Stumpf , 545 U.S. 175, 183, 125 S.Ct. 2398, 162 L.Ed.2d 143 (2005) ); see also Utah Code Ann. § 77-13-6(2)(a) (LexisNexis 2017) ("A plea of guilty ... may be withdrawn only upon leave of the court and a showing that it was not knowingly and voluntarily made."). Utah law requires that the district court inform defendants of the direct consequences of a guilty plea, "but not necessarily every collateral consequence of [the] plea." See State v. Smit , 2004 UT App 222, ¶ 29, 95 P.3d 1203 (quotation simplified). A direct consequence of a guilty plea "is one that will have a ‘definite, immediate and largely automatic effect on the range of the defendant's punishment’ such as lack of eligibility for parole." Id. (quoting Cuthrell v. Director, Patuxent Inst. , 475 F.2d 1364, 1366 (4th Cir. 1973) ). A collateral consequence is one that is discretionary and unrelated to the length and nature of the sentence imposed on the basis of the plea—"such as the possibility of a concurrent state sentence ..., or the possibility of revocation of parole." Id.

¶ 12 Before accepting a guilty plea, the court must advise defendants of the constitutional rights they will be giving up and explain the charges and direct consequences of pleading guilty. "To aid district courts, ... rule 11 of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure... provides a roadmap for ensuring that defendants receive adequate notice...