In re Derrick Brown
Annotate this CasePetitioner Derrick Brown petitioned for post-conviction relief following the superior court's grant of summary judgment to the State based on a determination that the criminal court complied with Vermont Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(e)(4) in deviating from the original plea agreement. In 2003, petitioner pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated sexual assault of a minor and one count of lewd and lascivious conduct with a child. In total, petitioner agreed to a five-to-fifteen-year split sentence, with two years to serve, as well as the imposition of sex-offender probation conditions. Petitioner and the criminal court engaged in a colloquy, and the court accepted petitioner’s guilty plea but reserved final sentencing until after the release of the presentence investigation report (PSI). The criminal court reviewed the PSI, which differed from the original plea agreement in two important aspects: (1) the PSI recommended a three-to-twenty-year straight sentence; and (2) the report recommended three additional probation conditions. The State acknowledged that these conditions were not part of the original plea agreement and stated, “I suppose, in theory, if the court was not willing to accept the plea agreement without those conditions . . . then that would be a change in the plea agreement and the defendant would have a right to withdraw from it.” The court stated that it was going forward with the sentence as outlined in the original plea agreement, with the addition of the special probation conditions recommended in the PSI, minus the alcohol condition. Petitioner inquired about the two special conditions, which he felt were contradictory. The court explained the conditions and made sure that petitioner understood them; petitioner confirmed that he did. The court directed the clerk to impose the five-to-fifteen-year split sentence with the two added conditions. In 2014, petitioner filed his PCR petition, alleging that the criminal court violated Rule 11(e)(4) when it failed to explicitly inform him that he had the right to withdraw his plea after the criminal court imposed the additional probation conditions. Finding that the State was entitled to summary judgment based on its review of the criminal court record, the Supreme Court affirmed denial of relief.
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