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Withdrawl of Plea in California

Once a defendant in a criminal case decides to plead guilty to an offense, they are sentenced by the judge pursuant to a plea agreement reached. In certain situations, that defendant may decide that they made a mistake, and should never have plead guilty in the first place. Our law firm has been helping these defendants by filing a Motion to Withdraw the Plea of Guilty. The judge will not automatically allow a defendant to withdraw that plea of guilty. There must be legal grounds to do so. Wallin & Klarich are experienced in evaluating the “plea of guilty” and making a determination of 1) if the plea can be withdrawn i.e., there are legal grounds, and 2) should they withdraw their plea of guilty

Issues of whether the plea of guilty should be withdrawn are usually the result of poor communication between the defendant and his attorney. The defendant is unsure if they made the right decision because they were not properly informed of the strengths and weaknesses of the case and the chances of success at trial. These answers usually are a result of the attorney’s investigation and evaluation of the case. When there is a communication problem with the attorney, mistakes are often made.

Wallin & Klarich prides itself on effective communication with all of our clients. Prior to determining if a motion to withdraw a plea of guilty can be successful, we would review the entire file, speak to the existing attorney and make an independent evaluation. Once we determine the motion would likely be successful, we then determine if that motion should be filed. In certain situations, filing the motion is not in the best interest of the client. The classic example is the situation where the defendant’s plea of guilty is withdrawn, only to result in a more severe sentence than what the defendant was originally getting prior to the motion being filed. Thus, these issues must be carefully evaluated by our experienced attorneys to determine what is best in your individual case.

If you had a previous attorney represent you and you have already plead guilty to a criminal offense, call our firm if you have questions or doubts that your plea of guilty was in fact in your best interest. Why not be sure?

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