Daniel L. Fowler v. State Idaho

Daniel Fowler applied for post-conviction relief from a judgment of conviction entered upon his plea of guilty to the charge of first degree burglary of a restaurant. The district court denied the requested relief and Fowler has appealed. He contends that relief should have been granted because his guilty plea was not voluntary; that the sentencing Judge failed to: (1) inform him of the nature of the charge of first degree burglary and (2) make a determination that a factual basis existed for the acceptance of a guilty plea. We affirm.[Footnote 1] Fowler first contends that his guilty plea was not voluntary because he was not informed of the nature of the charge when he withdrew his not guilty plea and entered a plea of guilty. The guilty plea was a result of plea bargaining by which the state agreed to dismiss an additional charge of first degree burglary and to not file a charge of assaulting a police officer. Specifically, Fowler alleges that the district court did not inform him that one of the elements of burglary which the state is required to prove is that the entry into the building was made with the intent to commit any theft or any felony. I.C. § 18-1401. It is well-established that a plea of guilty must be made voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently in order to be valid. State v. Colyer, 98 Idaho 32, 557 P.2d 626 (1976). A defendant must be informed of the intent element in order for a guilty plea to be considered voluntary. Sparrow v. State, 102 Idaho 60, 625 P.2d 414 (1981). However, reading to the defendant an information, which refers to the elements of the charge including the intent element, satisfies this requirement in the absence of a showing that the defendant is not conversant with the English language or lacks normal intelligence and education. State v. Bradley, 98 Idaho 918, 575 P.2d 1306 (1978); Schmidt v. State, 103 Idaho 340, 647 P.2d 796 (Ct.App.1982).