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Friday, October 07, 2011

Ind. Courts - Confusion re "Gibson attorney pleads guilty to pornography, obstructing justice charges"

The ILB is somewhat confused about the sentencing of Princeton attorney William R. Wallace III. When last we posted, the judge had called for a review yesterday of the sentence he had imposed on Tuesday.

Mark Wilson's Evansville Courier & Press story dated Oct. 5th began:

A Gibson county attorney sentenced to home detention and probation after pleading guilty to possessing child pornography and obstructing justice may be required to register as a sex offender after all.

William Wallace III was not required to register as part of the plea agreement accepted Tuesday by Gibson Superior Court Judge Earl Penrod.

Court officials have requested special prosecutor Jonathan Parkhurst and Wallace’s attorney, Scott Danks, return to court today to revisit the sentence.

Danks said Wednesday the agreement also may have erred in allowing for Wallace’s Class D felony conviction of possessing child pornography to be recorded as a Class A misdemeanor after a successful completion of the sentence.

Last vening Andrea Howe of the Princeton Daily Clarion reported in a long story that begins:
PRINCETON — Princeton attorney William R. Wallace III Thursday declined to withdraw his guilty plea in a criminal case, but his attorney objected to the sentence being corrected to prevent him from petitioning to have a felony child pornography possession conviction reduced to a misdemeanor offense.

After learning that terms of a plea deal accepted in GIbson Superior Court Tuesday contained a provision that is contrary to state statute for that offense, Judge Earl Penrod brought Wallace, his attorney Scott Danks of Evansville, and special prosecutor Jonathan Parkhurst back to the courtroom Thursday.

The correction in the sentence doesn’t affect his right to petition to have a felony conviction of obstruction of justice reduced to a misdemeanor offense if he successfully completes his sentence, and the change doesn’t affect the 90-day home detention and 458-day probation ordered to be served concurrently for both convictions.

“It was my mistake,” Parkhurst acknowledged, telling the judge that he researched the statute, but reviewed the original law, which has since changed to prohibit reducing a child porn possession conviction to a misdemeanor.

Penrod said Thursday that, prior to imposing the sentence Tuesday, he had reservations about whether he should allow Wallace the right to petition for that charge to be reduced. “I was wondering whether I should do something instead of whether I could,” he said.

The child porn possession conviction also requires Wallace to register as a sex offender and abide by probation rules for that offense.

Penrod said the sentence he imposed Tuesday didn’t address whether Wallace would be required to register as a sex offender.

But Parkhurst said that he discussed with Danks during plea agreement negotiations that he believed Wallace wouldn’t be required to register.

Danks said he was assured that Wallace wouldn’t be required to register, and while it wasn’t a part of the sentence, it could have had some impact on his client’s willingness to plead to the charges.

Danks acknowledged that he relied upon the prosecution’s information and didn’t research the requirement, but objected to changing the sentence.

The judge offered Wallace the option to withdraw his guilty plea and put the case back on the trial docket, but Wallace opted to stick with the plea deal, objecting to any changes.

The objection, noted the judge, could offer Wallace a basis for appealing the sentence if he chose to seek post-conviction relief.

The judge said if Wallace didn’t withdraw his guilty plea, “I have to cure the erroneous sentence,” and he struck the portion of the sentence referring to reducing the child porn possession conviction to a misdemeanor.

Mark Wilson of the C&P reports:
A Gibson County judge on Thursday offered attorney William Wallace III a chance to withdraw his guilty plea after learning that parts of the approved plea agreement didn't comply with state law.

"He was given the chance to go to trial and he chose not to," said Jonathan Parkhurst, special prosecutor in the case. * * *

Gibson Superior Court Judge Earl Penrod called the attorneys in the case back to court Thursday. Penrod told them the agreement was in error by allowing for Wallace's Class D felony conviction of possessing child pornography to be recorded as a Class A misdemeanor after a successful completion of his sentence, Parkhurst said.

Indiana Code excepts felony domestic battery and possession of child pornography convictions from being reduced to misdemeanors in that way.

Wallace's attorney, Scott Danks, said he objected to the change in the sentence and noted that the agreement included Wallace not being required to register as sex offender.

But Parkhurst said the judge also put on the record that while there were discussion about whether Wallace would register as a sex offender, that it was never part of the actual agreement or sentence.

In fact, Parkhurst said, state law does require it.

Danks said he will appeal the sentence, based in part on the legal argument that a judge's final decision cannot be changed or modified without consent of those involved.

As part of the original plea agreement, Wallace also agreed to plead guilty to voyeurism, a class D felony, pending the outcome of his appeal to the Indiana Court of Appeals to determine whether the investigation's facts support the charge.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 7, 2011 09:18 AM
Posted to Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions