Gonder v. State
Annotate this CaseAppellant was sentenced to a cumulative term of 552 months’ imprisonment pursuant to a plea agreement. Appellant first petitioned the trial court for a sentence reduction based partly on the grounds that appellant’s attorney had failed to inform the court prior to sentencing that the victim was also armed, which would have helped appellant obtain a more lenient sentence. The trial court denied relief, holding that appellant should have instead brought a petition for post-conviction relief, which appellant subsequently filed. The trial court denied this second petition, and appellant appealed both orders. Before the Supreme Court was appellant’s pro se motion for appointment of counsel. The Court dismissed this motion as moot because it was clear that appellant could not prevail if his appeal were permitted to go forward. Appellant could not establish that trial counsel had a duty to present evidence of the victim’s weapon to the court in the hopes of obtaining a lower sentence or that the failure to present this evidence prejudiced appellant because of the nature of the plea agreement.
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