Q: can I rescind a guilty plea for protection order violation prior to sentencing in Colorado?
I was charged with Stalking, harassment, tampering and protection order violation. I went to trial for the stalking, harassment, and tampering and was supposed to have a separate trial with the same jury for the protection order violation. My attorney had me plead guilty to the protection order violation prior to the jury deciding the other charges. I was found not guilty by the jury on all three counts. My sentencing is upcoming and I reviewed the protection order statute and cannot determine how I violated the protection order. I asked my attorney if I could rescind my guilty plea for the protection order violation prior to sentencing and he said "no". I don't understand why my attorney wants me to be sentenced for something I did not do. I want to know if it's possible to rescind guilty plea and have another trial for the protection order violation and how I could do that without the support of my attorney.
Thanks for your help in this important issue.
Kind Regards,
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A:
You could always hire another attorney to attempt to withdraw your guilty plea or you could attempt to do it yourself. Look at criminal rules of procedure 35. It is very difficult to do with the high standard that applies in this situation. That is the reason you sign the paperwork and the judge asks you if this is what you want to do and if anyone is forcing you to plead guilty. Between you filling out the paperwork and answering the judge's questions, you cannot simply tell the judge you didn't want to plead guilty and have it withdrawn. However, there are some narrow circumstances in which you may be able to attempt to withdraw your plea and it would start with rule 35.
Strategy wise, it very well may have made since to plead to the VPO so that the jury didn't hear about the fact you had some previous issue happen that warranted a protection order being issued. You may also consider the overall situation here a win as you beat the serious charges and only have a VPO left. Talk to your attorney about it. Most of the time this is a communication issue and not your attorney trying to get you to have a conviction.
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