People v. Hererra CA5

DISCUSSION

Defendant contends the trial court abused its discretion when it accepted his plea because the factual basis was insufficient. He argues his plea was invalid because (1) the trial court failed to consider the contents of the police reports stipulated to by the parties as the factual basis, until after the trial court accepted his plea; (2) he was not afforded sufficient notice of the conduct alleged to prove each element of the offense before he entered his plea; and (3) he did not understand the strength of the case against him because he had not considered the contents of the police report, which was stipulated to by the parties as the factual basis, until after the plea was accepted. The People respond that (1) none of those purported failures rendered his plea invalid, and (2) any error was harmless because the police reports provided a factual basis for the plea. We agree with the People on both accounts. A. Background During the plea colloquy, the trial court told defendant that it wanted to talk to him about the change of plea form before it accepted his plea. The form, initialed and signed by defendant and signed by defense counsel, listed the charges to…