What is a Plea in Abeyance?

Judge Listening to Attorney — Image by © Tim Pannell/Corbis

There are many different times of plea agreements that can be obtained in a criminal proceeding but the basic idea of a plea is that the Defendant pleads, guilty or no contest to the charges or the charges as amended to something else, and in exchange for that plea the prosecution agrees to dismiss/change some charges or agree to certain sentencing recommendations. A plea in abeyance however is a little bit different than every other time of plea however because the defendant’s guilty plea or conviction isn’t actually entered right away and may never be entered. Additionally, the greatest benefit of the plea in abeyance is that if the defendant is successful the charges plead to are eventually dismissed meaning a conviction does not go on his or her record. The basic structure of a plea in abeyance is you plead guilty to a charge, that plea is held in abeyance, or put on the back burner for a defined probationary period and if all the terms of the plea (i.e. fines, classes, community service, etc…) are completed by the end of the probationary period the case is dismissed and no conviction is entered

Getting a Plea in Abeyance in Your Case

One of the most important factors in whether or not you can get a plea in abeyance in your case is your criminal history. Most prosecutors in Utah see the plea in abeyance as something only for first time offenders, however, we have been successful in obtaining a plea in abeyance in cases where our clients did have a criminal history. If you are wondering if you could get a plea in abeyance in your case contact us today for a free consultation.

The post The Plea in Abeyance – Keeping Your Record Clean appeared first on Ogden Criminal Defense Lawyer.

In Utah the law allows for withdrawing a guilty plea before sentencing but only in very defined circumstances. Recently in State v. Collins, the Utah Court of Appeals addressed the issue of a defendant’s desire to withdraw his guilty plea, but the court denied him a withdrawal in that case.

In Collins, the defendant was picked up on a warrant, taken to jail, and a search revealed heroin on his person.  He decided to enter into a plea agreement of one count of possession of a controlled substance, a second degree felony. At the court where he entered his plea, the defendant’s attorney represented to the court that she had gone over the plea agreement with her client and that she believed he was entering into the agreement knowingly and voluntarily. The plea agreement itself is a written statement that the defendant signs which cites the defendant’s rights and that he is waiving those rights. In addition to entering the plea agreement the court asked the defendant various questions including under Rule 11 of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure:

• Whether he could read, write, and understand the English language;
• Whether he was under the influence of drugs, alcohol, or medications;
• Whether he was thinking clearly;
• Whether he suffers any illness that impaired his ability to think clearly;
• Whether he read and understood everything in the plea statement;
• Whether according to the defendant the plea affidavit was true and correct;
• Whether the defendant understood all of the constitutional rights he was waiving as set forth in the plea statement
• Whether he understood the maximum penalties associated with the second degree felony conviction of possession of a controlled substance.

The court also explained to the defendant that although there was a sentence recommendation, the court was not bound by that recommendation. After entering his plea, the defendant filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea. At a hearing the defendant said he was promised by his attorney that as soon as he entered his plea he would be released on probation. The district court denied his motion to withdraw his plea and he appealed, but only on the issue that his plea was not knowing, intelligent and voluntary, but on that issue he lost as well.

The court noted that “To show that a plea was not knowing and voluntary, a defendant must show either that he did not in fact understand the nature of the constitutional protections that he was waiving by pleading guilty, or that he had such an incomplete understanding of the charges that his plea cannot stand as an intelligent admission of guilt.” The court found that the defendant did not satisfy his burden.

The post State v. Collins: Withdrawing a Guilty Plea appeared first on Ogden Criminal Defense Lawyer.