COA: Appellant failed to provide correct documentation when requesting withdrawal of guilty plea

An Indiana man who didn’t provide a transcript of his guilty plea hearing or a history of his mental health has failed in his appeal of the denial of his motion to withdraw his guilty plea, the Court of Appeals of Indiana has ruled.

In June 2021, Xavier Garcia was charged with Level 6 felony strangulation, Class A misdemeanor domestic battery and Class B misdemeanor criminal mischief under cause 01C01-2106-F6-95. While out on bond, in December 2021, Garcia was charged with Level 5 felony obstruction of justice under cause 01C01-2112-F5-35.

Garcia signed a combined written plea agreement for Cause F6-95 and Cause F5-35 in February agreeing to plead guilty to Level 6 felony strangulation in Cause F6-95 and to obstruction of justice under Cause F5-35 in exchange for the state’s dismissal of the remaining charges in those causes and the dismissal of all charges in two other causes.

As part of the plea agreement, Garcia and the state agreed that he would receive a one and a half-year sentence for his Level 6 felony conviction and a four-year sentence for his Level 5 felony conviction. That same day, the trial court held a guilty plea hearing and took Garcia’s guilty plea under advisement

On the day of Garcia’s sentencing hearing, he filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea. Garcia argued that he had been under “mental stress” when he had pled guilty and that he had “not [been] capable of making a decision that was of his own volition.”

Adams Circuit Court addressed Garcia’s motion at the beginning of the sentencing hearing. During the hearing, Garcia questioned whether he had been “mentally stable enough to accept a plea with [him] facing all these other charges” and said that he had an eighth-grade education and had previously had psychological evaluations during a prior incarceration.

When cross-examined by the state, Garcia indicated that his prior psychological exam had occurred in 2005, and he stated that he did not have a copy of the report, did not know what conclusions had been made about his mental state, and had not received any follow-up treatment.

Before the trial court denied Garcia’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea, the court detailed how it managed guilty plea hearings, including providing an advisement of rights, inquiring into a defendant’s mental and emotional health and ensuring that a defendant understood his constitutional rights and was entering a plea by his own free choice and volition.

Specifically, the trial court noted it recalled that Garcia was “coherent” on the day of his plea and that if he had not been, then the trial court would not have allowed him to plead guilty.

The trial court denied Garcia’s motion to withdraw, accepted his guilty plea, and sentenced him, according to the plea agreement, to an aggregate term five and a half years in the Indiana Department of Correction.

Before the Court of Appeals, the state argued Garcia had waived his challenge to the denial of his motion to withdraw his guilty plea because he failed to provide a transcript of his guilty plea hearing for review. The appellate panel, looking at Indiana Appellate Rule 9(F)(5) agreed.

“Here, Garcia challenges the trial court’s denial of his motion to withdraw his guilty plea, arguing that he was under mental stress during the guilty plea hearing that rendered him unable to freely enter his guilty plea,” Judge Rudolph Pyle wrote for the court. “Review of this issue requires our Court to examine the defendant’s statements during his guilty plea hearing to decide whether his plea was freely and knowingly made.

“… Garcia, however, did not request that a copy of his guilty plea hearing be transcribed; thus, it is not part of the record on appeal,” Pyle continued. “Because Garcia has not met his appellate burden of presenting this Court with a record sufficient to allow us to review his challenge, we conclude that he has waived appellate review of this issue.

“… Before the trial court and on appeal, Garcia provided no support to show that any stress or mental history prevented him from freely and knowingly entering his guilty plea,” Pyle concluded.

The case is Xavier R. Garcia v. State of Indiana, 22A-CR-691.