If The Shue Fits

The Wyoming Supreme Court declined to entertain an appellate attack on a guilty plea and attempt to reduce the sentence in a criminal matter.

Marvin Shue (hereinafter “Shue”) filed a motion in the district court that can be read as both a motion to withdraw his guilty plea and a motion to reduce his sentence. The district court denied Shue’s request to withdraw his guilty plea and concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to contemplate a sentence reduction. Shue now appeals the district court’s decision. We find that the district court did not have jurisdiction to rule on Shue’s motion and that we, as a result, do not have jurisdiction to consider Shue’s appeal.

After Shue entered a guilty plea, his counsel contacted the victim’s mother

and offered a $15,000 inducement (couched as “future restitution”) in exchange for the mother’s agreement to recommend to the Court that [Shue] receive a suspended sentence and no prison time. The offer was conditioned on the mother successfully persuading the District Attorney to go along with the no-incarceration recommendation. One of the stipulated hearing exhibits … is a recorded conversation in which [trial counsel] tells the mother, “The agreement would have to be that the DA goes along with this. So it would be you and the DA agreeing to recommend a suspended sentence. If the DA won’t do that, then it’s really worthless for [Shue] to even try to do this, okay?” … [Trial counsel] knew that he could not offer money to the victim’s family as that would be a clear ethical violation.

 Counsel was disciplined for the ethical violation.

Appellate counsel had filed an Anders brief in the direct appeal.

After evaluating the legal merits of these claims, Shue’s appellate counsel concluded that there were “no appealable issues”—the record supported that Shue had knowingly and voluntarily entered his guilty plea and his trial counsel’s conduct did not prejudice Shue because the district court had sentenced him in accordance with the plea agreement.

 (Mike Frisch)