Samuel Bates v. State Idaho

On April 17, 1978, Samuel Bates pled guilty to one count of attempted rape, I.C. §§ 18-6101 and 18-306, and one count of assault with a deadly weapon, former I.C. § 18-906.[Footnote 1] He was sentenced to indeterminate terms of twelve years for the attempted rape and five years for the assault, the sentences to run consecutively. He did not appeal. On January 14, 1980, he filed a petition for post-conviction relief alleging that his guilty pleas were not made voluntarily. He also alleged that conviction and punishment for both offenses violated I.C. § 18-301 and the double jeopardy clause of the fifth amendment of the United States Constitution, as applied to the states through the fourteenth amendment. These same contentions frame the issues on appeal. The district Judge who had earlier sentenced Bates handled the post-conviction proceedings. He held that Bates had entered his guilty pleas voluntarily, but that the provisions of I.C. § 18-301 allowed Bates to be punished for only one of the offenses. He therefore vacated the sentence for assault with a deadly weapon. The district Judge further held that no useful purpose would be served by any further proceedings and the [petition] should be dismissed. Bates was given twenty days to reply to the proposed dismissal. I.C. § 19-4906(b). A motion to reconsider was filed, but it was denied. Bates has appealed. We affirm the order of the district Judge and, in addition, we remand with directions to vacate the conviction for assault with a deadly weapon.