Legal Question in Criminal Law in Minnesota

Re: A felony theft appeal due to counsel errors

Normally an appeal of a conviction and sentence which were the product of a plea bargain to which you agreed, would be unsuccessful and a waste of time. If your defense counsel acted so inadequately as to be a violation of your constitutional right to counsel, that could be grounds for withdrawal of the guilty plea (and starting over, towards a trial) or an appeal of the denial of a motion to withdraw guilty plea. You should seek out the help of a lawyer in evaluating this option. Time is of the essence. There are time limits for appeals and post-trial motions. Also, a motion to withdraw a plea will generally be less favorably considered with the passage of time.

Re: A felony theft appeal due to counsel errors

If you had an attorney, and it sounds like you did, and you entered into a plea bargain and was then sentenced it is awfully hard to appeal. Unfortunately, just because you didn�t have a good lawyer, that alone is normally not an appealable issue. Also, as an aside, you have no right to choose your own public defender, if you get a free lawyer, you�re generally stuck with him or her if they are good or not so good.

You may be able to withdraw your plea, you really need to be a little more specific with the facts.