State of Tennessee v. Bobby Lee Allen Robinette

The defendant, Bobby Lee Allen Robinette, pled guilty pursuant to a plea agreement to one count of robbery, a Class C felony, and four counts of the theft of $1,000 or more but less than $10,000, Class D felonies. The defendant received an effective sentence of twenty-three years. Thirty-one days after the entry of the judgment, the defendant filed a motion to set aside his pleas, which the trial court denied. The defendant appeals, arguing that his guilty pleas were not entered voluntarily based on the State‟s failure to file a notice that he would be sentenced outside Range I, based on the assertion that he was sentenced outside his Range in one conviction, and based on certain omissions from the inquiry required under Rule 11 of the Tennessee Rules of Criminal Procedure. After a thorough review of the record, we conclude that the defendant‟s motion was timely because the judgment forms do not bear a “file-stamp” date indicating when they were filed with the clerk. Because the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion to withdraw the guilty pleas, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.