Shawn Faulkner v. Commonwealth of Kentucky ( 2023 )

RENDERED: JULY 21, 2023; 10:00 A.M.
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
Commonwealth of Kentucky
Court of Appeals
NO. 2021-CA-0212-MR
SHAWN FAULKNER APPELLANT
APPEAL FROM LINCOLN CIRCUIT COURT
v. HONORABLE JEFFREY T. BURDETTE, JUDGE
ACTION NO. 18-CR-00032
COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY APPELLEE
OPINION
AFFIRMING
** ** ** ** **
BEFORE: CALDWELL, DIXON, AND ECKERLE, JUDGES.
CALDWELL, JUDGE: Shawn Faulkner (“Faulkner”) filed a motion seeking a
new trial, alleging he received ineffective assistance of counsel which induced him
to enter a guilty plea. He appeals the trial court’s order denying him relief. We
affirm the trial court.
FACTS
On February 5, 2018, Faulkner’s girlfriend, Kala Francisco, was shot
and killed. He was charged with her murder and was facing other charges, as
well.1 Following negotiations between the prosecution and Faulkner’s appointed
counsel, Faulkner entered a guilty plea to manslaughter in the first degree and
being a felon in possession of a handgun. He was sentenced to eighteen (18) years
in prison.
During the entry of his plea, the trial court inquired whether he was
satisfied with his attorney’s representation. Faulkner indicated he was satisfied
with his counsel’s performance. He acknowledged that by entering a guilty plea he
was waiving certain rights, including the right to a jury trial and an appeal. He
acknowledged guilt of the offenses to which he was entering pleas of guilt. The
trial court found his plea to be voluntary, intelligent, and knowing.
In December of 2019, Faulkner filed a pro se motion pursuant to RCr2
11.42. In the motion, he asked the trial court to put aside his guilty plea and grant
him a trial, alleging that his plea was involuntary, unknowing, and unintelligent.
He alleged that his attorney had misadvised him to enter a plea to a crime which he
did not commit and failed to raise defenses to the charges.
1
Faulkner was indicted on charges of murder, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon,
receiving stolen property (firearm), tampering with physical evidence, and being a persistent
felony offender in the first degree.
2
Kentucky Rules of Criminal Procedure.
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The trial court denied Faulkner an evidentiary hearing. The trial court
also denied relief on the motion, finding that Faulkner had not shown that his
counsel’s performance was deficient. Faulkner filed this appeal.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
This Court reviews a trial court’s denial of an RCr 11.42 motion for
an abuse of that court’s discretion. Bowling v. Commonwealth, 981 S.W.2d 545,
548 (Ky. 1998). Abuse of discretion has been defined as being arbitrary,
unreasonable, unfair, or unsupported by sound legal principles. Commonwealth v.
English, 993 S.W.2d 941, 945 (Ky. 1999) (citations omitted).
A trial court reviews an allegation of ineffective assistance of trial
counsel pursuant to the standard set out in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668,
104 S. Ct. 2052, 80 L. Ed. 2d 674 (1984). Under this highly deferential standard,
the court must apply a two-part analysis first identifying error and then any
resultant prejudice.
First, the defendant must show that counsel’s
performance was deficient. This requires showing that
counsel made errors so serious that counsel was not
functioning as the “counsel” guaranteed by the Sixth
Amendment. Second, the defendant must show that the
deficient performance prejudiced the defense. This
requires showing that counsel’s errors were so serious as
to deprive the defendant of a fair trial, a trial whose result
is reliable.
Id. at 687, 104 S. Ct. at 2064.
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[To show prejudice, t]he defendant must show there is a
reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s
unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would
have been different. A reasonable probability is a
probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the
outcome.
Id. at 694, 104 S. Ct. at 2068.
ANALYSIS
Faulkner alleges that his appointed counsel was ineffective for failing
to advise him concerning a possible defense he may have had to the charge he was
facing, to wit, murder. He alleges that the defense of intoxication was available to
him, and counsel was ineffective for advising him to plead guilty when such
defense was available. We disagree.
The defense of intoxication is not a complete defense. Rather, it
simply reduces the culpability of the offender for the crime. Provided, that is, a
jury is convinced there has been shown evidence sufficient to support a finding that
the defendant was so intoxicated he was unaware of his actions.
The defense of voluntary intoxication does not warrant
an acquittal but reduces the offense from murder to
second-degree manslaughter. Slaven v. Commonwealth,
Ky., 962 S.W.2d 845, 856-57 (1997). However, “[i]n
order to justify an instruction on [voluntary] intoxication,
there must be evidence not only that the defendant was
drunk, but that she was so drunk that she did not know
what she was doing.” Springer v. Commonwealth, Ky.,
998 S.W.2d 439, 451 (1999); see also Stanford, 793
S.W.2d at 117-18.
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Caudill v. Commonwealth, 120 S.W.3d 635, 669 (Ky. 2003), as modified (Feb. 5,
2004).
Even if there had been sufficient evidence to require the giving of an
instruction on voluntary intoxication, and a jury was convinced Faulkner was
intoxicated to the degree he was unaware of his actions that evening, it is not a
foregone conclusion that Faulkner’s sentence would have been less than the
eighteen (18) year sentence he received. Manslaughter in the second degree is a
Class C offense, meaning the sentence for that charge would have been between
five and ten years. KRS3 507.040(2); 532.020(1)(b). Murder, without an
aggravator as here,4 carries a maximum of a life sentence. KRS 532.030(1).
Faulkner forgets that in exchange for his plea, the Commonwealth
dismissed several charges, charges he would still have faced if he had proceeded to
trial. Included in those charges was a first-degree persistent felony offender
charge. A finding of guilt on that charge would have increased the available
sentence. Thus, had a jury found Faulkner was intoxicated such that his culpability
was reduced, the available sentence would still have been increased to between ten
and twenty years. KRS 532.080(6)(b). Therefore, even if Faulkner had gone to
trial, received an intoxication instruction, convinced a jury to find he was
3
Kentucky Revised Statutes.
4
KRS 532.025(2)(a).
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intoxicated to the degree that they could not find him guilty of the murder charge,
but instead of manslaughter in the second degree, he could still have received a
sentence of nineteen or twenty years, just on that charge alone, had the jury found
him guilty of being a persistent felony offender in the first degree. Thus, he was
not prejudiced in any way.
Since he entered a guilty plea, Faulkner must show “that the deficient
performance so seriously affected the outcome of the plea process that, but for the
errors of counsel, there is a reasonable probability that the defendant would not
have pleaded guilty, but would have insisted on going to trial.” Sparks v.
Commonwealth, 721 S.W.2d 726, 728 (Ky. App. 1986). The standard required
Faulkner to “allege facts that, if proven, would support a conclusion that the
decision to reject the plea bargain and go to trial would have been rational, e.g.,
valid defenses, a pending suppression motion that could undermine the
prosecution’s case, or the realistic potential for a lower sentence.” Stiger v.
Commonwealth, 381 S.W.3d 230, 237 (Ky. 2012). He has not met this standard.
Counsel was not ineffective for advising Faulkner that pleading guilty
and receiving a sentence of eighteen (18) years was advisable. Such is competent
assistance of counsel. Further, Faulkner cannot establish he was prejudiced by
pleading guilty because he received a lesser sentence than he could have received
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had he received what he claims he was denied by taking counsel’s advice and
entering the plea.
As a PFO of either degree, had Stiger been convicted of
even one first-degree robbery, he would have been
subject to a minimum sentence of twenty years – the
sentence he received under the plea bargain – and would
also have been subject to the violent offender statute’s
parole eligibility restrictions. It thus appears that Stiger’s
chances of improving on his outcome by going to trial
were not just exceedingly slim, but virtually non-existent.
His chances of faring worse, on the other hand, were
considerable. As noted, the Commonwealth had
substantial evidence of seven class B felonies, several of
which involved significant acts of violence. That
evidence together with Stiger’s status as a repeat offender
would have made for a high risk at trial of a sentence far
above the twenty-year minimum. While it is true that
even had things gone against Stiger at trial his parole
ineligibility would have been extended, at most, from
seventeen years to twenty, parole eligibility would not
have been his only concern. Stiger was in his twenties at
the time of his plea, so the difference between the
twenty-year sentence offered to him and the much longer
sentence (potentially seventy years or life) he would have
risked at trial was very real. Because Stiger thus had
little, if any, chance of improving his outcome at trial, but
could easily have fared far worse, we are not persuaded
that, had he been correctly advised about the parole
consequences of his plea, there is a reasonable
probability that he would have rejected the plea bargain
and insisted upon a trial. It simply would not have been a
“rational” choice under the circumstances.
Stiger, 381 S.W.3d at 237-38.
We now review Faulkner’s allegation that the trial court erred in not
holding an evidentiary hearing.
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A trial court must hold an evidentiary hearing on an RCr
11.42 motion “only when there is ‘a material issue of fact
that cannot be determined on the face of the record.’”
[Commonwealth v. Searight, 423 S.W.3d 266, 228 (Ky.
2014),] (quoting RCr 11.42(5) (other citation omitted)).
A court may “summarily” deny “motions asserting
claims refuted or otherwise resolved by the record.”
Commonwealth v. Pridham, 394 S.W.3d 867, 874 (Ky.
2012). Also, no hearing is required if “the allegations,
even if true, would not be sufficient to invalidate [the]
convictions.” Searight, 423 S.W.3d at 228 (internal
quotation marks and citation omitted).
Fowler v. Commonwealth, 634 S.W.3d 605, 609 (Ky. App. 2021).
The record conclusively establishes that the plea was voluntary,
intelligent, and knowing, which Faulkner acknowledged during the colloquy. He
makes no allegation which requires the taking of evidence not before the court and
therefore there was no need for an evidentiary hearing.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the judgment of the Lincoln
Circuit Court.
ALL CONCUR.
BRIEFS FOR APPELLANT: BRIEF FOR APPELLEE:
Shawn Faulkner, pro se Daniel Cameron
West Liberty, Kentucky Attorney General of Kentucky
Mark D. Barry
Assistant Attorney General
Frankfort, Kentucky
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