Court Opinion

ID: 9795814
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 03:39:15.281172+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:37:51.333619
License: Public Domain

THORNE, Judge,
(concurring):
T22 I concur with the decision to reverse the trial court's denial of Corwell's motion to withdraw her plea based on the trial court's failure to strictly comply with rule 11 of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure. However, absent the specific failures outlined in the majority opinion, I believe the plea colloquy was exemplary and the caution demonstrated by the trial court should be highlighted. During the colloquy, the trial court conducted an in-depth discussion with Corwell addressing virtually all of the rights due her in the criminal proceeding. The discussion ranged from the court's ensuring that Cor-well had read and understood the pleading document prepared by counsel, to its explaining that, in pleading guilty, she was waiving *1176her right to a jury trial, her right to confront the State's witnesses, the presumption of innocence, and the State's duty to prove her guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The court also explained to Corwell the range of possible sentences she faced should she accept the plea agreement.
23 Furthermore, it is clear from the ree-ord that the trial court understood that rule 11 does not envision nor require the recitation of a formulaic speech. Rather, the trial court understood that, under rule 11, its role was to conduct an actual inquiry into the nature and depth of the defendant's understanding of her rights and to ensure that her plea was entered in a knowing and voluntary fashion.
124 Finally, because the court accepted the plea pursuant to State v. Sery, 758 P.2d 935, 939 (Utah Ct.App.1988), and because the trial was scheduled to begin on the day following the plea hearing, the court's failure to strictly comply with rule 11 is understandable, albeit insufficient to satisfy our rule 11 jurisprudence.
125 Accordingly, I concur with the decision to reverse and remand the trial court's denial of Corwell's motion to withdraw her guilty plea.