Southern California Defense Blog

In a perfect world, when you enter into a plea bargain and accept responsibility for a crime (felony or misdemeanor), you should feel confident and assured that you have done the right thing – that you know about all the potential consequences and side effects of accepting a plea bargain. However, this is not a perfect world and reality is that you may not feel comfortable or confident with your decision of accepting the plea. It is also possible that you may find out subsequent to the plea that there are additional negative ramifications of your plea that you were not aware of at the time of the plea. If you find yourself in this situation, you have SIX MONTHS to file a motion to withdraw your plea.

There are caveats to the withdrawal though. If you were not represented by an attorney at the time of the plea, then the court SHALL withdraw the plea if done within six months. However, if you were represented by an attorney at the time of the plea, then the court MAY withdraw your plea, if you have good cause for dismissal. Good cause can be in, different forms but you must be able to articulate that to the court. It could be, that your attorney didn’t fully explain something to you or probation is giving you additional terms you were not made aware of at the time of plea or the plea has affected a part of your life that the court did not advise you of at the time of the plea.

Thus, it is important to hire a criminal defense attorney who is well-versed in criminal law and who can inform you of all of the possible consequences before accepting a plea bargain.

Wallin & Klarich has been handling Plea Withdrawal cases for decades. Contact the attorneys at Wallin & Klarich to represent you in this difficult and stressful time in your life. Visit our website www.wklaw.com and feel free to call us at 888-280-6839. We will be here when you call.

An Experienced Criminal Defense Firm Can Help You Withdraw Your Plea

At any time before judgment or within 6 months after an order granting probation, and if entry of judgment was suspended, the court may permit the withdrawal of a guilty plea in California and the entry of a not guilty plea upon a showing of good cause. The decision to move to withdraw a guilty plea belongs to the defendant. Counsel may not simply refuse the defendant’s request to make the motion.

“Good cause” to set aside a guilty plea is shown when the defendant demonstrates that the plea was entered as the result of mistake, ignorance, inadvertence, or some other factor that demonstrates the defendant did not intend to accept the plea.

In one case, the defendant was allowed to withdraw guilty plea because he was not told that prison was mandatory if he pleaded guilty to robbery with use of a gun. In another case, the defendant was allowed to withdraw his plea because the prosecution withheld favorable evidence.

Other “good cause” can be demonstrated by showing that previous counsel was inadequate. Often, pleas are withdrawn if previous counsel fails to advise the defendant of his or her constitutional rights and/or counsel fails to specify the consequences of the plea agreement. When a defendant successfully withdraws his or her guilty plea, the case is restored to its status before entry of the plea; however, this includes revival of any charges dismissed under the plea bargain.

Continue reading "Withdrawing a Guilty or No Contest Plea" »