Can a defendant withdraw his guilty plea before judgment has been entered?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Devon Samuel James Singleton Perkins, E063053 (Cal. App. 2016):

Section 1018 allows a defendant to withdraw his guilty plea before judgment has been entered, upon a showing of good cause, which may be established by a showing defendant was operating under mistake, ignorance, or any factor such as inadvertence, fraud or duress, overcoming the exercise of his free judgment, and must be shown by clear and convincing evidence. (People v. Weaver (2004) 118 Cal.App.4th 131, 145-146.) Over the course of the plea and sentencing proceedings between 2012 and 2015, the following information emerged: defendant was dissatisfied with his lawyer's representation and wanted to have new counsel; defendant hoped to be sentenced to 14, 15, or 16 years, not 24 years or more; defendant wanted to plead no contest rather than guilty; and defendant wanted to withdraw his guilty plea, based on his contention that his lawyer did not fully explain his sentence was for 24 years and four months. In summary, defendant consistently claimed ineffective assistance of counsel throughout the case and that claim formed the basis for his request to withdraw his guilty plea.

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