The Case Of Missouri V. Galin E. Frye Case Brief

Case Brief
Case Information The United States Supreme Court decided Missouri v. Galin E. Frye on March 21, 2012.
Case Facts In August of 2007, defendant Galin E. Frye was charged with driving with a revoked license; he had already been convicted three times for the same offense and Missouri charged him with a class D felony, which carries a maximum prison term of four years. 132 S. Ct. at 1404. The prosecutors sent two plea deal offer options to Frye’s attorney, one of which would recommend a three year sentence if there was a guilty plea to the felony charge, without any recommendation for probation but with a recommendation that he serve ten days in jail as "shock" time; the other was if Frye plead guilty to a misdemeanor that a 90 day

132 S. Ct. at 1404. At the hearing, Frye waived his right to a preliminary hearing on the charge stemming from the August 2007 arrest and pleaded not guilty at a succeeding arraignment, but then changed the plea to guilty. 132 S. Ct. at 1404. Since there was no principal plea agreement, the state trial court took his guilty plea and the prosecutor recommended a three-year sentence, made no recommendation about probation, and requested ten days “shock” time in jail; the judge sentenced Frye to three years in prison. 132 S. Ct. at 1404-1405. Frye filed for post-conviction relief in state court claiming that the failure of his attorney to notify him of the prosecution's plea offers denied him the effective assistance of counsel; at an evidentiary hearing Frye testified he would have pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor if he had been made aware about the plea deal offers. 132 S. Ct. at 1405. The court denied the relief, but the Missouri Court of Appeals reversed and held that Frye met the need for showing a Sixth Amendment violation under Strickland v. Washington because there was no evidence to show Frye had been alerted of the offers and he pleaded to a felony instead of