Can I change My guilty plea to not guilty?

Question

My mom is being charged with a felony, 1st degree with residental burglery and breaking in an entry.. Her court-appointed pressured her into to pleaing gulity and yelled at her and called her names and told her she had no other choice but to take it and told her not to tell anyone the info she found out cause it would make the case worse. What she found out was the person who was pressing charges against her didn't even own the house and the people who did own the house would testify against the people charging my mom. What it was was my moms friend told her she could have a wicker basket (worth $10 in the rain) and when she took it they called the cops on her. So my mom believed the lawyer and pleaded guilty. Can she change her plea to not guilty cause she hasn't got sentencd yet? And do you think the judge will grant her request? Thankyou..

Answer 1

It depends on the judge. When she goes for sentencing the judge will ask her if she has anything to say. She should tell the court that she is not guilty and her lawyer pressured her to plead guilty. That should work. They will give her a new attorney and she should not plead guilty.

Answer 2

They dont take your plea in the police station, you just denied whatever it is you are charged with at the police station. Your plea has not been taken yet, so you don't need to do anything apart from plead guilty when you go to court. The Magistrates might not sentence you though, if they think you should get a harsher sentence than they are allowed to hand down they will commit you to the crown court, that can be done for simply passing sentence. As for not being able to afford a solicitor, you get one free of charge, contact a solicitor that accepts legal aid you can definitely have one. If you are really not guilty then do not plead guilty just to get a lesser sentence, they always tell you to do that but since you dont have much money you will not get a decent solicitor, the solicitor will probably advise you to plead guilty but if you didn't do it, fight it. The discount is only a third off your sentence, do not fall for that carrot. Edit: In response to your foot note, I did not say that you have not been charged, I said your plea has not been taken yet as the police do not take pleas, that is a fact and don't argue with someone who works close to this field. When the police ask you if you did something or not and charge you, that is not taking a plea, you do not enter your plea until the court tell you to. Edit again: Honestly, what they mean is you need to plead guilty at the first opportunity AT COURT, it would only go against you if you enter a not guilty plea at court and then change your mind later on. Don't worry, you are grand, you need do nothing other than like I said, to get the early plea sentence discount, you plead guilty when it reaches court. The time scale is not different up until the plea hearing, it is exactly the same whether you admitted or denied at the police station. The time scale is only different after the plea hearing, if you plead guilty they have to set a date for sentence / committal for sentence at the crown court or set up a trial if you were to plead not guilty, it takes longer to set the trial up than it does to set a date for sentencing.. In short the time scale is always the same from when you are charged until it reaches the plea hearing and it only varies after that.

Answer 3

Is this a joke? Please be. Either it's a joke, or you are leaving out some serious details. It should be pretty simple, if your Mother is not guilty, than she should plea not guilty. If she entered the home without intent of stealing or vandalizing anything, and the court has no way of proving that she indeed had intent to steal the wicker basket, then she should plead not guilty. Something smells afish though in your description. Are you positive you have all the facts? I have a hard time believing anyone would prosecute over a 10 dollar wicker basket. If I were your Mother, I would even go one step further than pleading not guilty, and attempt a counter suit for Malicious Prosecution. People shouldn't be able to just sue for any frivilous matter, and if they do, they should be ready to face consequence for such. If all of your facts are straight, and the people who own the home will testify in behalf of your Mother, then I think your Mom has valid reason to counter sue, and a good chance of winning. And she should find another lawyers who isn't such a Nimrod.

Answer 4

Sometimes those court appointed lawyers aren't the best. The case I worked on the lawyer told the client to plead self-defense to a murder where he walked up to a car in the dark and blasted some innocent mildly retarded dude for no reason. The "self-defense" he testified to was that he "thought the guy had leaned down to reach for a gun." I'm serious! He actually admitted the crime, described the entire incident, and said it was self-defense. But there had been no witnesses, no description, no murder weapon, nothing! The dude got 29 years.

Answer 5

I was terminated from PTI program in midland Tx, my charge is going to trial, can I hire another attorney to file a motion to change my guilty plea to not guilty.

Answer 6

A defendant can withdraw a guilty plea up until the point that the judge enters the judgment. This is usually prior to sentencing.

She needs to find out if the judgment has been entered. Once it has been the plea cannot be withdrawn.

Richard

Answer 7

My understanding is you have to make an application to the Court to vacate plea. That's off the top of my head.

Answer 8

Go hire a lawyer if you guys can afford one...it's the best way to go - he'll know the right thing for you guys to do..good luck