Last
week the Supreme Court of Kansas remanded a trial court’s decision to not allow
a criminal defendant to withdraw his nolo contendere plea. State v.
Garcia, 102,140, 2012 WL 3537848, at *2 (Kan. Aug. 17 2012).
In
2008, defendant Garcia was charged with attempted second-degree murder and
intentional aggravated battery. Id. After making a plea
agreement with the state Garcia was able to plead nolo contendere to reckless
aggravated battery and the state dismissed the other charges (as well as reducing
from intentional to reckless). Id. Because Garcia was
unaware that a prior juvenile adjudication would be treated as a personal
felony, he received a criminal history score of B rather than the C he
expected. Id. Thus, his presumptive sentence range more than
doubled “from 53 to 60 months to 114 to 128 months.” Id.
On
appeal, and his motion to withdraw, Garcia argued “he was misled into accepting
a plea deal because he believed his criminal history score was C.” Id.
at *3. Garcia primarily contended that the district judge abused his
discretion by requiring Garcia to allege his innocence as a prerequisite to
withdraw his guilty plea. Id. at *7. However, as the supreme
court held, such is the incorrect legal standard to be applied. Id.
at *8. Under Kansas law, a district judge may consider but not require
innocence to be claimed in order to establish good cause for the withdrawal of
a plea. Id. at *8.
For more information regarding sentencing and
plea withdrawals contact Dionne or Lindsey at 913.948.9490.
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