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Bell v. State

Because the defendant offered no evidence to establish that his guilty pleas in prior cases were invalid, the trial court was authorized to rely on them for the purpose of recidivist sentencing.

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A jury found James Lee Bell guilty of theft by shoplifting. At his sentencing hearing, the State introduced certified copies of guilty pleas that Bell had entered in four prior shoplifting cases for purposes of recidivist punishment under OCGA § 16-8-14 b 1 C. On appeal, Bell argues that the trial court erred in sentencing him as a recidivist because the State failed to sufficiently establish that he had waived his right to counsel in two of the prior shoplifting convictions. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

In recidivist sentencing, the State bears the burden of showing both the existence of the prior guilty pleas and that the defendant was represented by counsel when he entered the pleas. See Nash v. State, 271 Ga. 281, 285 519 SE2d 893 1999. If the defendant was not represented by counsel at the time of the guilty pleas, the State can satisfy its burden by showing that the defendant had waived his right to counsel. See Beck v. State, 283 Ga. 352, 353-354 2 658 SE2d 577 2008. “The State can do this by introducing a transcript of the plea hearing, a docket entry or another document affirmatively showing that the right to counsel was waived.” Id. at 354 2. When the State is able to show that the defendant waived his right to counsel, a “presumption of regularity” attaches to the plea proceedings and the burden then shifts to the defendant to show any irregularities in the proceedings.1 Id.

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