Legal Question in Criminal Law in Virginia

Re: chriminal law

Such a defendant could file a motion to withdraw his plea of guilty, depending upon the amount of time elapsed since the plea was taken by the court

However, since in a plea situation the judge has already asked the defendant a series of questions(plea colloquy)prior to accepting the plea of guilty to ensure that the defendant's plea is fully voluntary and not the result of duress, coercion or the influence of drugs or other impairing conditions, the motion to withdraw the plea of guilty is likely to be denied.

Re: chriminal law

You can certainly ASK, and you SHOULD, and you should do it FAST.

When exactly was this? However, the chances for success might not be great.

If there is a court transcript, you might try to get it.

If you were previously represented by counsel, that might make it harder unless you can show that you were mislead by the attorney.

However, the consequences are too great not to TRY.

You might want to run it by an attorney first, even if you represent yourself. You can get advice from an attorney and run through the issues for an hour or two, even if the attorney does not do the entire case for you.