When You’re Hot, You’re Hot

The Delaware Supreme Court reversed and remanded a matter involving a dispute between a defendant and his counsel

In this appeal we confront the situation where, prior to sentencing, defendant Jerry Reed (“Reed”) sought to withdraw his guilty plea, but his counsel refused to file a motion to do so, apparently under the belief that no grounds justifying a plea withdrawal were present, and the Superior Court refused to consider his pro se motion because he was represented by counsel. As Reed put it, he became stuck in a Catch-22 due to the operation of two Superior Court Criminal Rules.

In order to resolve the tension between the rules, we hold that a criminal defendant’s control of the objectives of the representation prior to sentencing requires that counsel either obey an instruction to file a motion to withdraw a guilty plea, or seek leave to withdraw so that the defendant can file the motion with other counsel or pro se. Because the factual record in this case is incomplete, and because some of the Superior Court’s factual findings are not supported by the record, we reverse and remand for additional factfinding necessary to determine whether Reed’s claims for ineffective assistance of counsel have merit.

(Mike Frisch)