People of Guam v Habib [2010] GUSC 9; 2010 Guam 09 (2 July 2010)

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF GUAM

THE PEOPLE OF GUAM
Plaintiff-Appellee,

V

HAIM HABIB
Defendant-Appellant.

Supreme Court Case No. CRA09-013
Superior Court Case No. CF0512-03

OPINION

Filed: July 2, 2010
Cite as: 2010 Guam 9

Appeal from the Superior Court of Guam
Argued and submitted on May 3, 2010
Hagåtña, Guam

Appearing for the Plaintiff-Appellee: Marianne Woloschuk Assistant Attorney General Office of the Attorney General Prosecution Div. 287 W O’Brien Dr. Hagåtña, GU 96910

Appearing for the Defendant-Appellant: Anthony R. Camacho, Esq. Ste. 808, 8th Flr., GCIC Bldg. 414 W Soledad Ave. Hagåtña, GU 96910

BEFORE: ROBERT J. TORRES, Chief Justice; F. PHILIP CARBULLIDO, Associate Justice; KATHERINE A. MARAMAN, Associate Justice.

CARBULLIDO, J.:

[1] This appeal involves the trial court’s post-judgment order dismissing Defendant-Appellant Haim Habib’s Amended Motion to Set Aside the Judgment on jurisdictional grounds. In the motion, Habib claimed the trial court violated his procedural and substantive rights in the judgment, which did not conform to his plea agreement. He contends that the judgment not only increased his sentence from a single seven-year sentence to two seven-year sentences, to run concurrently, but that it referred to his plea as a nolo contendere plea rather than an Alford plea, which Habib claims was the plea actually accepted and entered by the trial court. Habib now asks this court to vacate the trial court’s post-judgment order dismissing his Amended Motion to Set Aside the Judgment, to vacate the judgment and to allow the withdrawal of his plea.

[2] We find that the trial court erred in declining to hear Habib’s Amended Motion to Set Aside the Judgment on jurisdictional grounds. Therefore, the trial court’s dismissal of Habib’s Amended Motion to Set Aside the Judgment is reversed, and the matter is remanded for the trial court to consider said motion.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

[3] On February 22, 2005, the trial court held a Change of Plea Hearing pursuant to a plea agreement made between the People of Guam (“the People”) and Defendant-Appellant Haim Habib. Transcripts (“Tr.”), tab 1, at 1-2 (Change of Plea, Feb. 22, 2005). At this hearing, the court explained the difference between a nolo contendere plea and an Alford