Opinion ID: 2590679
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: ¶ 13 Mr. Merrill argues that the plain language of the statute, its legislative history, and case law addressing similar statutes support the proposition that the time limit to withdraw a guilty plea imposed by Utah Code section 77-13-6(2)(b) is directory only, creating no jurisdictional bar to the consideration of his motion. At the time of Mr. Merrill's plea and motion to withdraw, section 77-13-6 read: (1) A plea of not guilty may be withdrawn at any time prior to conviction. (2) (a) A plea of guilty or no contest may be withdrawn only upon good cause shown and with leave of the court. (b) A request to withdraw a plea of guilty or no contest is made by motion and shall be made within 30 days after the entry of the plea. (3) This section does not restrict the rights of an imprisoned person under Rule 65B, Utah Rules of Civil Procedure. Utah Code Ann. § 77-13-6 (1999) (amended 2003 & 2004). [1] ¶ 14 Although we have not unequivocally stated that the thirty-day filing requirement of section 77-13-6(2)(b) imposes a jurisdictional bar to late-filed requests to withdraw pleas, we have strongly implied as much. ¶ 15 We first addressed this issue in State v. Abeyta, 852 P.2d 993 (Utah 1993) (per curiam). Before the thirty-day limit to withdraw a guilty plea was added to Utah Code section 77-13-6, Mr. Abeyta pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery. Id. at 994; see Utah Code Ann. § 77-13-6 (1980). By the time Mr. Abeyta moved to withdraw his plea, the thirty-day time limit had been codified, see Utah Code Ann. § 77-13-6 (1989), and more than thirty days had passed from the date on which he entered his plea. Abeyta, 852 P.2d at 994. We concluded that the statutory amendment was substantive and not procedural and held that the thirty-day limit could not be applied retroactively to bar Mr. Abeyta's motion. Id. at 995. In so holding, we implied that a defendant's failure to withdraw a guilty plea within thirty days from the date on which he entered it would have jurisdictional consequences when we stated that [t]he amendment to the plea statute limits a defendant's right to withdraw his or her guilty plea to thirty days after entry of the plea. Thereafter, the right is extinguished. Id. ¶ 16 Later, in State v. Ostler, 2001 UT 68, 31 P.3d 528, we acknowledged and resolved a statutory ambiguity concerning which procedural event triggered the thirty-day plea withdrawal window. [2] We held that the statutory description of the period available to withdraw a plea, 30 days after the entry of the plea, Utah Code Ann. § 77-13-6(2)(b) (1999), referred to the date of entry of final judgment and not to the date of the plea colloquy. Ostler, 2001 UT 68 at ¶ 11, 31 P.3d 528. The legislative history of the statute anchored most of this holding. Id. at ¶ 9. We reinforced our reasoning, however, with the observation that to start the time for moving to withdraw a plea from the time the district court accepted a plea could deprive the district court of the power to review a plea before it enters a judgment of conviction and sentence, an outcome we found to be unreasonably unfair. Id. at ¶ 10. Contributing to the unfairness of this alternative interpretation was our assumption, culled from the dictum in Abeyta, that failure to bring a timely motion to withdraw a guilty plea had jurisdictional consequences. Id. ¶ 17 State v. Reyes, 2002 UT 13, 40 P.3d 630, completed the evolution of our analysis of the thirty-day filing period with the express recognition of its jurisdictional status as an integral part of the holding. Moreover, we accorded increased veneration to our earlier commentaries on the jurisdictional status of the thirty-day filing window of section 77-13-6(2)(b), elevating them from dicta to holdings. Id. at ¶ 3. When we explained why we were turning away Mr. Reyes's motion to withdraw his plea, we stated: We decline to address this issue because we do not have jurisdiction to address it. Section 77-13-6 of the Utah Code was amended in 1989 to require a defendant to file a motion to withdraw a guilty plea within thirty days after the entry of the plea. Utah Code Ann. § 77-13-6 (1999). We have held that failure to do so extinguishes a defendant's right to challenge the validity of the guilty plea on appeal. See State v. Abeyta, 852 P.2d 993, 995 (Utah 1993) (noting that the plea statute limits a defendant's right to withdraw his or her guilty plea to thirty days after entry of the plea and that thereafter, the right is extinguished); State v. Ostler, 2001 UT 68, ¶ 10, 31 P.3d 528 (noting that because State v. Johnson, 856 P.2d 1064, 1067 (Utah 1993), requires a defendant to move for a withdrawal in the district court before he can challenge a plea on appeal, his appeal rights on the plea question could be cut off.). Accordingly, because Reyes did not move to withdraw his guilty plea within thirty days after the entry of the plea, we lack jurisdiction to address the issue on appeal. Id. Although the retroactive promotion of dictum to holding is a practice we do not endorse, we neither apologize for our assessments of the jurisdictional nature of the thirty-day filing period in Abeyta and Ostler nor retreat from what is clearly our holding in Reyes, all of which imposes a jurisdictional bar on late-filed motions to withdraw guilty pleas. ¶ 18 Due to the unconventional treatment we have afforded it, we have never engaged in a thoroughgoing analysis of why section 77-13-6(2)(b) is jurisdictional. Though largely unexplained, our approach to the thirty-day filing period has been consistent. More importantly, the filing limitation's presumptive jurisdictional effect has shaped the outcome of the cases in which it has played a role. For example, in Ostler, the argument that the thirty-day filing period should commence from the date on which final judgment is entered may owe its persuasive force to the serious problems that we noted could beset a scheme in which a jurisdictional motion filing period began to run from the date of the plea colloquy. See Ostler, 2001 UT 68 at ¶ 10, 31 P.3d 528. ¶ 19 That a body of jurisprudence has developed around the view that the filing limitation is jurisdictional is reason enough to sustain its legitimacy even in the absence of a strong analytical pedigree where no compelling grounds have appeared to disturb it. Reyes, in fact, states that the filing limitation is jurisdictional. 2002 UT 13 at ¶ 3, 40 P.3d 630. Despite its imperfect lineage, Reyes is entitled to precedential dignity. Mr. Merrill does not directly ask us to overturn Reyes, but rather challenges its value as precedent. Because the issue was not briefed, we do not address Reyes's vulnerability to being overturned. We stand by Reyes's claim to precedential status and apply its holding here. Accordingly, we affirm the district court's denial of Mr. Merrill's motion to withdraw his plea as untimely. ¶ 20 We reject Mr. Merrill's contention that even if Reyes has precedential status, it is not controlling here because it concerned the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, not the jurisdiction of the district court, to consider an untimely motion to withdraw a guilty plea. However, the jurisdictional implications of section 77-13-6(2)(b) are independent of the court whose jurisdiction the defendant seeks to invoke. We consequently find Reyes to be controlling and confirm our conclusion there that section 77-13-6(2)(b) is indeed jurisdictional.