State v. Jackson, 91570 (1-29-2009)
State v. Jackson, 91570 (1-29-2009)
Opinion of the Court
{¶ 2} Defendant Lavelle Jackson (appellant) appeals the trial court's denial of his motion to withdraw his guilty plea. After reviewing the facts of the case and pertinent law, we affirm.
{¶ 5} The underlying purpose of Crim. R. 11(C) is for the court to give enough information to a defendant to allow him to make an intelligent, voluntary, and *Page 4
knowing decision of whether to plead guilty. See State v. Ballard
(1981),
{¶ 6} Pursuant to Boykin v. Alabama (1969),
{¶ 7} Appellant argues that part of his plea agreement was to testify against his co-defendant, and that, somehow, this rendered his guilty plea deficient as to his right to remain silent. We disagree. The record shows that the court strictly *Page 5 complied with the Crim. R. 11 requirement to inform a defendant of the privilege against self-incrimination.
{¶ 8} Appellant next argues that the court erred by denying his motion to withdraw his guilty plea. Crim. R. 32.1 governs withdrawals of guilty pleas, and it reads, "A motion to withdraw a plea of guilty or no contest may be made only before sentence is imposed; but to correct manifest injustice the court after sentence may set aside the judgment of conviction and permit the defendant to withdraw his or her plea." The Ohio Supreme Court has held the following regarding presentence motions to withdraw guilty pleas:
"Even though the general rule is that motions to withdraw guilty pleas before sentencing are to be freely allowed and treated with liberality, *** still the decision thereon is within the sound discretion of the trial court. *** Thus, unless it is shown that the trial court acted unjustly or unfairly, there is no abuse of discretion. *** One who enters a guilty plea has no right to withdraw it. It is within the sound discretion of the trial court to determine what circumstances justify granting such a motion. ***"
{¶ 9} State v. Xie (1992),
{¶ 10} Furthermore, in State v. Benson, Cuyahoga App. No. 83178,
{¶ 11} In the instant case, appellant was represented by highly competent counsel at both the Crim. R. 11 and motion to withdraw the plea hearings. In addition, the court gave fair consideration to appellant's motion, noting the following: it complied with Crim. R. 11 mandates; appellant's counsel testified that she believed appellant made the plea in a knowing, voluntary, and intelligent fashion; the plea was "just a strategic decision to accept a [felony] five as opposed to something more serious"; and that appellant was making a last minute decision to withdraw his plea because he tested positive for marijuana during his court-supervised release program. Furthermore, appellant's motion, which was filed on the morning of his sentencing hearing, stated that he wanted to withdraw his plea because he was not guilty and he wanted to go to trial on the merits of the case. Finally, the record reflects that appellant understood the nature of the charges against him and the possible penalties he faced.
{¶ 12} Accordingly, we cannot say that the court abused its discretion in denying appellant's motion to withdraw his guilty plea, and appellant's sole assignment of error is overruled.
Judgment affirmed.
*Page 7It is ordered that appellee recover of appellant costs herein taxed.
The court finds there were reasonable grounds for this appeal.
It is ordered that a special mandate issue out of this court directing the common pleas court to carry this judgment into execution. The defendant's conviction having been affirmed, any bail pending appeal is terminated. Case remanded to the trial court for execution of sentence.
A certified copy of this entry shall constitute the mandate pursuant to Rule 27 of the Rules of Appellate Procedure.
*Page 1COLLEEN CONWAY COONEY, A.J., and JAMES J. SWEENEY, J., CONCUR
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.