ARTHUR A. ALEXIE SR., Appellant,
v.
STATE OF ALASKA, Appellee.
Appeal
from the Superior Court, Fourth Judicial District, Bethel,
Trial Court No. 4BE-12-171 CI, Dwayne M. McConnell, Judge.
Maureen E. Dey, Gazewood & Weiner, P.C., Fairbanks, for
the Appellant.
June
Stein, Assistant Attorney General, Anchorage, and Craig W.
Richards, Attorney General, Juneau, for the Appellee.
Before: Mannheimer, Chief Judge, Allard, Judge, and Coats,
Senior Judge.[*]
OPINION
COATS,
Senior Judge
Arthur
A. Alexie Sr. filed an application for post-conviction relief
seeking to withdraw his plea after sentencing. The superior
court summarily dismissed Alexie's application. He was
seeking to withdraw his plea after sentencing. On appeal,
among other things, Alexie contends that he presented a
prima facie case that he did not understand the
terms of the plea agreement and consequently did not enter
his plea knowingly and voluntarily. For the reasons explained
in this decision, we conclude that Alexie did plead a
prima facie case that he did not understand the
terms of the plea agreement and, therefore, we remand this
case to the superior court for further proceedings on
Alexie's petition.
(Alexie
raises several other contentions, but all of these appear to
be variations on his claim that his plea was not knowing or
voluntary.)
Background
On
December 7, 2011, Alexie pleaded guilty to one count of
third-degree sexual abuse of a minor. Alexie entered this
plea in accordance with an agreement with the State. He had
originally been charged with one count of second-degree
sexual abuse of a minor and with two counts of attempted
second-degree sexual abuse of a minor. There were two
victims: an eight-year-old and a ten-year-old.
Alexie's
case had been pending for approximately a year and a half
before the change-of-plea hearing. During that time, and at
the change of plea, he was represented by an assistant public
defender. At the hearing, Alexie, after a standard
change-of-plea colloquy with the court, entered a plea of
guilty to one count of third-degree sexual abuse of a minor,
a class C felony.[1] At the end of the colloquy, the superior
court found that Alexie had a full understanding of his
rights, and that he had made a knowing, voluntary, and
intelligent waiver of those rights.
Alexie
was sentenced that same day to serve 5 years, no time
suspended. As part of the agreement, Alexie conceded one
aggravating factor-that the offense was the most serious.
Except under circumstances not present in Alexie's case,
the maximum time to serve for a class C felony is 5
years.[2]
Approximately
four months later, in April 2012, Alexie filed an application
for post-conviction relief. Although Alexie ostensibly raised
several different allegations in his application for
post-conviction relief, his pleadings-and particularly his
affidavit - made it clear that he wished to withdraw his plea
under Alaska Criminal Rule 11(h). That is, Alexie was
asserting that withdrawal of his plea was necessary to
correct a manifest injustice, in that his attorney did not
accurately explain to him the terms of the plea agreement,
and that she coerced him to say "guilty" when the
court asked him to enter his plea.
Among
other things, Alexie claimed in his application that he was
dissatisfied with his trial attorney because she did not
adequately communicate with him, nor did she inform him about
any plea offers from the State. He alleged he was entitled to
withdraw his plea because he was denied the effective
assistance of counsel, his plea was involuntary, and the plea
was entered without knowledge of the charge, or of the
sentence that would be imposed.[3]
In
response to Alexie's pleadings, his former attorney filed
an affidavit controverting Alexie's claims. Afterwards,
the State moved to dismiss the application, arguing that in
light of the colloquy that had occurred at Alexie's
change-of-plea hearing, Alexie's claims were "flatly
contradicted by the record." Superior Court Judge ...