State v. Rettig

The Supreme Court affirmed the holding in Gailey v. State, 379 P.3d 1278, that the Plea Withdrawal Statute “does not on its face violate the constitutional right to appeal” but also decided an issue that the Gailey majority did not reach, holding that Utah’s Plea Withdrawal Statute, Utah Code 77-13-6, is constitutional as applied because the statute does not foreclose an appeal but simply sets a rule of preservation and imposes the sanction of waiver of the issue on appeal for the failure to follow that rule.Defendant pled guilty to aggravated murder and aggravated kidnapping. Defendant attempted to withdraw his guilty plea by submitting a pro se letter to the district court. Defendant’s subsequently acquired counsel, however, successfully moved to withdraw Defendant’s pro se motion. Defendant appealed, seeking to set aside his guilty plea. Specifically, Defendant argued that the district court erred in accepting his plea, that his counsel provided ineffective assistance, and that the Plea Withdrawal Statute is unconstitutional because it infringes on his right to appeal under Utah Const. art. I, 12. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Defendant’s constitutional challenges to the statute failed. View "State v. Rettig" on Justia Law