Opinion ID: 836418
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Trial Court's Refusal to Allow Defendant to Withdraw his 1988 Guilty Pleas

Text: In 1995, defendant moved to withdraw his guilty pleas, which had been entered more than six years earlier. The trial court denied the motion. Defendant argues that the trial court should have allowed him to withdraw his pleas because the circumstances were so different when he pleaded. According to defendant, that was so because, when he pleaded guilty, the fourth question had not yet been added to ORS 163.150 (1989) and also because defendant mistakenly had believed that a videotaped re-enactment of the crime could be used against him in court. Under ORS 135.365, a trial court may at any time before judgment, upon a plea of guilty or no contest, permit [a plea of guilty] to be withdrawn and a plea of not guilty substituted therefor. (Emphasis added.) As discussed, at the time of defendant's motion, the trial court already had entered judgment. Although this court later vacated and remanded defendant's sentence in Simonsen I, this court affirmed the trial court's judgment with regard to defendant's guilt. Thus, under ORS 135.365, defendant was not entitled to withdraw his guilty plea, because judgment already had been entered with regard to his guilt at the time of his motion.