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Woods v. State5/19/1998
Appeal from a judgment of conviction, entered pursuant to a plea agreement, for one count of drunk driving causing death and one count of drunk driving causing substantial bodily harm. First Judicial District Court, Carson City; Michael E. Fondi, Judge.
Affirmed.
Appellant Frederick Jerome Woods pleaded guilty to one count of felony driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor (DUI) causing death, and one count of felony DUI causing substantial bodily harm, pursuant to NRS 484.3795. The district court accepted the plea agreement, but prior to sentencing, Woods moved to withdraw his plea. The district court denied Woods' motion and sentenced him to consecutive fifteen-year terms of imprisonment on each count.
Woods appeals arguing that the district court erred in denying his motion to withdraw the plea because Woods did not voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently enter the plea agreement. Woods also contends that, pursuant to NRS 484.3795 (2), it was unlawful for the State to dismiss two of the four original charges in exchange for his guilty plea; therefore, it was error for the district court to accept the plea agreement. Woods further asserts that the district court erred by imposing consecutive sentences for the same act.
FACTS
On August 19, 1993, around 6:30 p.m., Woods was driving his Dodge Shelby east on U.S. Highway 50 West, near Carson City. Alvin Costa sat in the passenger seat, Deborah Roberts sat in the center of the rear seat, and Woods' two minor nephews sat in the rear seat on either side of Roberts. Woods lost control of his car and crashed into another vehicle which was travelling west on Highway 50. The other vehicle was driven by Diane Richards, and Wilma Zamberlan was a passenger.
Costa and Roberts were killed in the accident; Roberts, body had remained in the rear center of the Dodge and Costa's body was found outside, lying on part of the detached passenger door in the westbound lane. Woods' nephews were unharmed. Richards and Zamberlan survived the accident, but sustained serious injuries. Woods was thrown from the Dodge and landed on the center line; he suffered head injuries and was "Care Flighted" to the hospital where his blood alcohol content was found to be greater than 0.10 percent.
On November 12, 1993, the State filed a criminal complaint against Woods alleging four counts of felony DUI pursuant to NRS 484.3795 alleging as follows: Count I--DUI causing the death of Costa; Count II--DUI causing the death of Roberts; Count III--DUI causing substantial bodily harm to Richards; and Count IV--DUI causing substantial bodily harm to Zamberlan. On May 17, 1994, due to the head injuries suffered by Woods in the accident, his public defender, Diane Crow, moved the district court for a competency examination. The court granted Crow's motion; Edward J. Lynn, M.D. (Dr. Lynn), a doctor of psychiatry and neurology, subsequently examined Woods and in a letter to Crow, dated July 6, 1994, concluded that Wood's was "competent to stand trial. He understands the charges against him and is capable of assiting his attorney in the preparation and execution of his defense." Dr. Lynn also reported that during the interview Woods stated that Costa had been driving at the time of the accident.
At the August 25, 1995 preliminary hearing, Nevada Highway Patrol (NHP) Trooper Allen Stout testified that based upon the physical evidence at the scene of the accident and comparing the types of injuries sustained by Costa and Woods, Woods had been driving at the time of the accident. Woods' nephews gave conflicting reports on the issue of whether Woods had been driving at the time of the accident.
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