DALE CARSON LAW

We respond to lots of people who have already entered pleas in criminal cases, even if they plead guilty. In Florida, the State gives a person 30 days from the time of the plea is entered to file a motion to withdraw the plea, if there is a legal reason to do so. We are always assuming that the time gives us the opportunity to go through the plea and know whether we should file a motion to withdraw it. Nevertheless, someone can, in fact, withdraw a plea even if they have plead guilty, provided that the legal standard is satisfied.

The Act of Withdrawing a Guilty Plea

The act of withdrawing a guilty plea is not just an act of changing one’s mind, it demands the court to be shown that there are considerable legal reasons for the plea to be reconsidered. Such reasons might be the emergence of new evidence, the detection of the fact that the procedural steps were wrong during the initial plea, or the misunderstanding of the plea’s consequences by the defendant. The function of our legal representatives is to interrogate the conditions upon which the plea was made. Therefore, ensuring our clients’ rights were not violated and they were well aware of the consequences of their decision.

Besides, it is necessary that clients should realize that this period of time is very short. Beyond this 30-day period, the likelihood of the actual withdrawal of the plea is much low, unless there are exceptional and strong reasons. Therefore, the quick and complete evaluation of the case is essential to make a sensible decision about whether to go ahead with the motion to withdraw a plea. This part of the criminal defense is very important because it can considerably influence the final judgment and the life of the person in question.