People v. Garcia ( 1991 )

Justice ERICKSON

dissenting:

I join Justice Vollack in his dissent, but write separately to emphasize the purpose of the providency hearing and the limited grounds for setting aside a defendant’s guilty plea. In my dissent in People v. Pozo, 746 P.2d 523 (Colo.1987), I emphasized the limited scope of a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel in an attack on the validity of a plea of guilty. (Erickson, J., dissenting). 746 P.2d at 530. I joined Justice Rovira in his dissent and in his analysis:

The interest at stake in a Crim.P. 11 proceeding is whether the defendant voluntarily entered a plea of guilty to the crime for which he was charged.

In Brady v. United States, 397 U.S. 742, 90 S.Ct. 1463, 25 L.Ed.2d 747 (1970), the defendant sought post-conviction relief on the ground that had he known of a subsequent Supreme Court decision at the time of his plea, he never would have pleaded guilty. The Supreme Court rejected his argument stating:

Central to the plea and the foundation for entering judgment against the defendant is the defendant’s admission in open court that he committed the acts charged in the indictment.

397 U.S. at 748, 90 S.Ct. at 1468. The Supreme Court also said:

A plea of guilty entered by one fully aware of direct consequences, including the actual value of any commitments made to him by the court, prosecutor, or his own counsel, must stand unless induced by threats ... misrepresentation ... or perhaps by promises that are by their nature improper as having no proper relationship to the prosecutor’s business.

397 U.S. 742, 755, 90 S.Ct. 1463, 1472, 25 L.Ed.2d 747 (1970), quoting Shelton v. United States, 246 F.2d 571, 572 n. 2 (5th Cir.1957), rev’d on other grounds, 356 U.S. 26, 78 S.Ct. 563, 2 L.Ed.2d 579 (1958) (emphasis added).

There is no contention by Pozo that he did not understand the direct consequences of his plea or that his plea was invalid because of any threat, misrepresentation, or other impropriety.

746 P.2d at 531 (Rovira, J., dissenting).

Here, the defendant claims that his counsel’s failure to properly advise him that his plea of guilty would limit his civil claims relating to his arrest and prosecution vitiates his plea. No claim is made that a factual basis is lacking for the plea, or that the defendant did not in fact commit the crimes charged. Erickson, The Finality of a Plea of Guilty, 48 Notre Dame Law. 835 (1973).

ROVIRA, C.J., joins in this dissent.