Columbus OVI/DUI Attorney Blog
An Ohio man pled guilty to Aggravated Vehicular Homicide and other charges. A few days before the sentencing was to be held, the defendant hired a new lawyer and filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea. The judge held a hearing and denied the motion. The defendant pled guilty and was sentenced to eight years in prison. The defendant recently appealed the judge’s decision to Ohio’s Third District Court of Appeals.
Ohio Law on Withdrawing a Guilty Plea
Rule 32.1 of the Ohio Rules of Criminal Procedure states: “A motion to withdraw a plea of guilty or no contest may be made only before sentence is imposed; but to correct manifest injustice the court after sentence may set aside the judgment of conviction and permit the defendant to withdraw his or her plea.”
There is a distinction between withdrawing a guilty plea before sentencing and after sentencing. As the Court stated in Kadwell v. U.S.:
This distinction rests upon practical considerations important to the proper administration of justice. Before sentencing, the inconvenience to court and prosecution resulting from a change of plea is ordinarily slight as compared with the public interest in protecting the right of the accused to trial by jury. But if a plea of guilty could be retracted with ease after sentence, the accused might be encouraged to plead guilty to test the weight of potential punishment, and withdraw the plea if the sentence were unexpectedly severe.
After sentencing, a guilty plea can only be withdrawn to correct manifest injustice. Before sentencing, however, a motion to withdraw a guilty plea is to be freely and liberally granted. The defendant must have a “fair and just” reason for withdrawing the plea: more than second thoughts or a mere change of mind.
The Judge’s Decision
In this case, the defendant argued he should be permitted to withdraw his guilty plea because he received the ineffective assistance of counsel, and he had a seizure prior to the plea hearing. The judge reviewed the record and concluded defense counsel was not ineffective, and the defendant stated on the record he was satisfied with his attorney’s representation.
The judge acknowledged the medical incident which occurred before the hearing, but the judge observed the defendant appeared to fully understand the dialogue with the judge during the plea. Accordingly, the judge concluded the plea was made knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily. The judge opined the defendant simply had a change of heart.
Defendant Appeals Judge’s Decision
The defendant recently appealed the judge’s denial of the motion to withdraw his guilty plea. The appellate court will reverse the judge ’s decision only if the judge’s denial was an abuse of discretion. An abuse of discretion occurs when a judge’s decision is unreasonable, arbitrary or unconscionable. The appellate proceedings will take several months.
Rather than hiring a new attorney to attempting to withdraw a guilty plea, a person charged with Vehicular Homicide would be wise to initially hire a lawyer with expertise in defending clients charged with Vehicular Homicide.