My son accepted a plea deal and was a codefendant in two separate cases, both having multiple robbery and assault charges. One of the cases involved three defendants, two teens and one 20 yr old. One, who was days shy of turning 16 years old, took the case to trial and lost. He was granted youthful status, given a 3 1/3 to 10years. My son, who was 18 at the time was denied youthful status. Part of the plea deal was to testify against the only one that took it to trial. My son was given a total of 19 years. Three years later, the teen that lost at trial will now be reheard. My questions are: 1) will my son have a chance at reopening his case? 2) is this the right time to do so (while the appeal is underway)? 3) Where do I even start? Any help or advice is GREATLY appreciated! Thank you.
Though not impossible, it is very difficult to take back a plea once you have plead and been sentenced. There are narrow grounds available to make the application. You might want to consult with a local criminal defense attorney to go over all the facts and circumstances before making a decision on whether to proceed. Good luck.
If he plead guilty without a promise of YO you would need a legal basis to move to vacate the plea such as ineffective assistance of counsel. If he won that motion he would have to face the original charges.
Richard C. SouthardCriminal Defense AttorneyNew York, NY ·
You need to get the transcript from when he took his plea. The judge usually is very careful in discussing whether YO was promised or what the range of sentence could be. If the judge was factually accurate, then you will need to find some other basis to withdraw the plea. Understand that withdrawing the plea, even if successful, is no guarantee that things will be better for him the second time. It could get worse. Good luck to you and your family.
Yes a motion to vacate the plea and sentence can be made while his appeal is pending. The grounds are narrow but should be attempted if he was under the impression that he was supposed to receive a YO.
Youthful Offender treatment is always discretionary on a felony charge, if the plea deal didn't include a promise of YO, then the grounds for withdrawing the plea and overturning his conviction are few. That said, if you have reason to believe that he may not have had sufficient understanding of what he was agreeing to, or had not been properly advised by his attorney, you should consult with a local attorney. Fully inform them of the facts, most usefully, if possible, the transcript of your son's plea. That would contain the full colloquy (the actual questions your son would have had to answer about what he was agreeing to) and would allow for a more full evaluation of his chances of success. As for the timing, the sooner the better to at least get started and working on the matter.
