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Cobb v. State8/27/2004
On September 15, 2003, James William Cobb entered a plea of guilty to felony driving under the influence of alcohol ("DUI"), a violation of § 32- 5A-191(h), Ala.Code 1975. On November 20, 2003, Cobb was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment; that sentence was split, and he was ordered to serve 3 years in prison, followed by supervised probation.
Cobb raises three issues on appeal, all related to his guilty plea. He contends (1) that his plea was not entered knowingly and voluntarily because, he said, he did not understand that he was entering a blind plea, which would subject him to prison time if he was not accepted into a drug and alcohol program; (2) that his legal counsel was ineffective for not fully apprising him of his rights and of the consequences of his plea, namely, that he would have to serve prison time if he was not accepted into a drug and alcohol program; and (3) that the trial court erred by refusing to permit him to withdraw his guilty plea after it was learned that he was not eligible for a drug and alcohol program and would be sentenced to prison.
Cobb was indicted for two counts of felony DUI. (C. 10.) At the guilty-plea hearing on September 15, 2003, the State dismissed one count, and Cobb entered a plea of guilty to the remaining count. (R. 6.) When Cobb entered his guilty plea, he signed an "Explanation of Rights and Plea of Guilty" form, commonly referred to as an Ireland form, [FN1] reflecting that he had been informed of his rights, that he was familiar with his rights, and that he understood that he waived those rights by pleading guilty. The face of the form revealed that Cobb was being charged with a Class C felony and that the range of punishment for a Class C felony was from 1 year and 1 day to 10 years. (C. 17-18.) At the guilty-plea hearing, the following occurred:
"THE COURT:.... Subsection (h) [of § 32-5A-191] provides that on the fourth or subsequent conviction, a person convicted of violating this section shall be guilty of a Class C felony and punished by a fine of not less than $4,100 nor more than $10,000 and by imprisonment of not less than one year and one day nor more than ten years.... [The statute] also says minimum sentence shall include a term of imprisonment of at least one year and one day which may be suspended or probated, but only if the defendant enrolls and successfully completes a state certified chemical dependency program recommended by the court referral officer and approved by the sentencing court.
"Now, it's a Class C felony that you will be pleading guilty to and I have told you the range of sentence within which the Court has to impose sentence."
"Do you understand the nature of the offense to which you are pleading?
"THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir.
"THE COURT: Do you understand the range of sentence within which the Court will have to impose sentence as required by law?
"THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
"THE COURT: Now you have signed a document explaining all your rights. Have you read that?
*2 "THE DEFENDANT: He--
"THE COURT: [Your attorney] read it to you?
"THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
"THE COURT: Do you understand your rights?
"THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
"THE COURT: Do you have any questions about your rights?
"THE DEFENDANT: No, sir."
(R. 7-8.) The trial court went further and informed Cobb that he had a right to proceed to trial and explained the rights Cobb had if he chose to proceed to trial. Cobb acknowledged his understanding of these rights and his understanding that by pleading guilty he was waiving the right to proceed to trial. Cobb further acknowledged that he had not been coerced into entering a plea of guilty, after which the following occurred:
"THE COURT: Do you understand that you should not plead guilty unless you are guilty?
"THE DEFENDANT: (inaudi
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