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Alexander v. State

The Supreme Court overruled Williams v. Duffy, 270 Ga. 580 1999, and its progeny and held that an attorney's failure to inform his or her client that he or she would be ineligible for parole as a recidivist for the entirety of a lengthy prison sentence constitutes constitutionally deficient performance.

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Appellant Calvin Alexander pled guilty to three counts of aggravated child molestation, two counts of statutory rape, three counts of child molestation and two counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes pursuant to a non-negotiated Alford plea.1 He was sentenced to 30 years on each count of aggravated child molestation with 15 years to be served in prison and the balance on probation; 15 years to serve on each of the statutory rape charges; and 15 years on each of the child molestation charges. Thereafter, appellant moved to withdraw his guilty plea on the ground of ineffective assistance of counsel. In this regard, appellant asserted trial counsel failed to advise him he would not be eligible for parole because he was sentenced as a recidivist and, if he had been so advised, he would not have pled guilty. At the hearing upon appellant’s motion, trial counsel testified he had no recollection of having discussed parole eligibility with appellant.

The trial court denied appellant’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea and the Court of Appeals affirmed,2 holding it was constrained by this Court’s ruling in Williams v. Duffy, 270 Ga. 580 513 SE2d 212 1999, that ineligibility for parole has a collateral effect on a criminal sentence and that, therefore, a lawyer’s failure to inform his client about parole eligibility cannot constitute deficient performance as a matter of law. This Court granted appellant’s petition for a writ of certiorari and posed this succinct question: Whether Williams v. Duffy remains good law, see Padilla v. Kentucky, 559 U.S. 356 130 SCt 1473, 176 LE2d 284 2010, Smith v. State, 287 Ga. 391 697 SE2d 177 2010, and Taylor v. State, 304 Ga. App. 878 698 SE2d 384 2010

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