Legal Question in Criminal Law in Minnesota

If you plead guilty to a crime because you were represented by a public defender who was absolutley worthless. a case that should have been simple. instead he scared my daughter into pleading guilty, which she was not. can you have this case reopened if she gets new representation? this has cause her to have a felony which has ruined her life.


Asked on 8/19/09, 9:03 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

A. Michael Kuehn A. Michael Kuehn Law Firm

The ability to withdraw a guilty plea depends on the timing of the request. From the sounds of it, this happened some time ago, and it sounds like your daughter has already been sentenced. This means it's more difficult to withdraw the plea, and the Judge is supposed to only permit withdrawal of the plea to "correct a manifest injustice." This can be a very difficult thing to prove and would likely require the presentation of very compelling facts to convince the Judge that the special circumstances require withdrawal. Claiming ineffective assistance of counsel might do it, depending on the particular facts; the fact that a felony ruined your daughter's life probably won't, since the practical effects of a felony conviction on your record are usually referred to as "collateral consequences" i.e. not the Court's concern.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions.

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Answered on 8/24/09, 2:39 pm


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