Opinion ID: 1780739
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Effective Counsel For Withdrawal of Guilty Plea

Text: McCuen first contends that he was entitled to effective counsel for purposes of withdrawing his guilty plea. He primarily contends that his trial counsel was ineffective by not including in his Petition to Vacate Sentence and to Allow Withdrawal of Plea all of the issues supporting the petition. Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 26.1 sets the procedure for withdrawal of guilty pleas and reads in pertinent part: (a) Prior to pronouncement of sentence, the court shall allow a defendant to withdraw his plea of guilty or nolo contendere upon a timely motion and proof to the satisfaction of the court that withdrawal is necessary to correct a manifest injustice. Rule 26.1 has been interpreted by this court to mean that a motion to withdraw a plea of guilty is untimely after the sentence is placed into execution. Rowe v. State, 318 Ark. 25, 883 S.W.2d 804 (1994); Malone v. State, 294 Ark. 376, 742 S.W.2d 945 (1988); Travis v. State, 286 Ark. 26, 688 S.W.2d 935 (1985). We have further stated that the trial court loses jurisdiction to set aside a guilty plea once it has been accepted and the sentencing has been completed. Scalco v. City of Russellville, 318 Ark. 65, 883 S.W.2d 813 (1994). McCuen, nevertheless, argues that the petition to withdraw his guilty plea to correct a manifest injustice under Ark. R.Crim. P. 26.1(b) and (c) may be entertained after judgment is entered. Those subsections read in part as follows: (b) A motion to withdraw a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to correct a manifest injustice is timely if, upon consideration of the nature of the allegations of the motion, the court determines that it is made with due diligence. Such motion is not barred because it is made after the entry of judgment upon the plea. If the defendant is allowed to withdraw his plea after judgment has been entered, the court shall set aside the judgment and the plea. (c) Withdrawal of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere shall be deemed to be necessary to correct a manifest injustice if the defendant proves to the satisfaction of the court that: (i) he was denied the effective assistance of counsel; The trial court correctly ruled that McCuen could not withdraw his guilty pleas under Rule 26.1 because sentencing had already transpired and judgment entered at the time the petition to vacate was filed. As a consequence, the petition was untimely. After sentencing, such a petition could be treated as one for post conviction relief under Rule 37, regardless of its title, and this court has so held. See Rowe v. State, supra ; Garmon v. State, 290 Ark. 371, 719 S.W.2d 699 (1986); Travis v. State, supra ; Shipman v. State, 261 Ark. 559, 550 S.W.2d 424 (1977). The trial court was, therefore, correct in treating the petition to vacate as one for post conviction relief. But even considering McCuen's petition to vacate to be one for relief under Rule 37, the United States Supreme Court has held that there is no constitutional right to an attorney in state postconviction proceedings, and, as a result, there is no corresponding right to claim constitutionally ineffective assistance of counsel in those proceedings. Coleman v. Thompson, 501 U.S. 722, 752, 111 S.Ct. 2546, 2566, 115 L.Ed.2d 640 (1991). Similarly, this court has held that the right to counsel ends in Arkansas after the direct appeal of the original criminal trial is completed, and the State is not obligated to provide counsel in post conviction proceedings. Fretwell v. State, 290 Ark. 221, 718 S.W.2d 109 (1986) (per curiam). Our reasoning has been that a post conviction proceeding is civil in nature and, thus, there is no constitutional right to appointment of counsel as part of a criminal proceeding. Id. In sum, McCuen's petition to withdraw his guilty pleas was untimely. Furthermore, he was not entitled to counsel to represent him for purposes of his Rule 37 petition. Hence, even assuming his counsel was ineffective in failing to include all grounds for relief in his Rule 37 petition, this is not a basis upon which his pleas can be vacated. Coleman v. Thompson, supra .