Does Section 1018 of the Criminal Code allow a defendant to withdraw his guilty plea after the entry of judgment?

Furthermore, defendant's motion to withdraw his guilty plea under section 1018 is inapposite because it was untimely. Section 1018 allows a defendant to withdraw his guilty plea at any time before judgment or within six months after an order granting probation upon a showing of good cause. ( 1018; People v. Castaneda, supra, 37 Cal.App.4th 1612, 1616-1617.) Here, defendant filed his motion to withdraw his guilty plea after judgment was rendered, and the six-month provision does not apply to this case.

Defendant, however, asserts that "[a]lthough section 1018 is limited on its face to the period before judgment, the courts have long permitted defendants to rely on section 1018 to withdraw a guilty plea after the entry of judgment," by relying on People v. Castaneda, supra, 37 Cal.App.4th at p. 1617. Assuming without deciding section 1018 applies in this case¹⁶ and presuming the trial court based its decision under section 1018,¹⁷ we find, however, that the trial court abused its discretion in granting defendant's motion to withdraw his plea.