Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: Can I go Back to court with a new Plea? YES

You may move to withdraw your plea at any time WITHIN 6 MONTHS of the entry of your guilty plea in a misdemeanor case. You have the ABSOLUTE RIGHT in a misdemeanor case TO WITHDRAW YOUR GUILTY PLEA IF YOU WERE NOT REPRESENTED BY AN ATTORNEY at the time of your plea.

Otherwise, the test is this: was your waiver of rights (to trial, etc.) given freely, intelligently and voluntarily? If not, your guilty plea must be withdrawn. The trouble, as mentioned before, is convincing the Court of the fact that your plea was not sufficiently knowing and voluntary. The difficulty in proof of your position is exacerbated when, as in most cases, you signed a written Tahl waiver form (initialling boxes next to statements of your understanding of your rights and voluntary waivers thereof). There is sometimes also a dialogue between the judge and the defendant to make "extra sure" the defendant's plea is air-tight.

If you were represented by an attorney when you pled guilty, these motions are difficult, but they are by no means impossible to win. I hope you win yours.

If you are outside the 6-month period, your relief could be "appellate" in nature-- not just a motion in the trial court. A Writ of Error Coram Nobis may be available to you.

If you would like more information, feel free to call or email me directly at (714)879-5770 or [email protected]. Good luck.

JACQUELINE GOODMAN RUBIO

Attorney at Law

Re: Can I go Back to court with a new Plea?

You can go into court and withdraw your plea depending on the circumstances and your reasons wanting to. If you care to do this, please contact my office at 310/277-1707.

Sincerely,

Lawrence Wolf, Esq.

Re: Can I go Back to court with a new Plea?

You would have to file a noticed motion to withdraw your guilty plea. It is very difficult to convince a court to allow a guilty plea to be withdrawn. This is especially true after sentencing. The courts hear many requests to withdraw guilty pleas supported by statements similar to yours. Medical records or a statment from a doctor would help your case.

If you were represented by an attorney discuss it with the attorney. If you were not represented by an attorney, you may have a better chance of success.

Re: Can I go Back to court with a new Plea?

Thank you for your posting. As the other attorneys have mentioned, you do have the right to file a written, prepared, and noticed motion asking the court to withdraw your plea of guilty, on specific grounds.

As mentioned by one of my colleagues, these are difficult motions to win, so you want to make sure that your motion is well researched, states the specifics of your case clearly, attaches all evidence, including a transcript, to the motion, and that you have good counsel arguing the motion before the court.

Timing is important here also, and I would recommend you not delay in getting counsel to help you. I hope this helps -- but if you have any other questions, please feel free to call me toll free at 1-877-568-2977, or email me at [email protected]. I'm happy to help in any way that I can.