Blackwell v. Georgia
Annotate this CasePrinson Blackwell appealed the denial of his motion to withdraw his guilty plea prior to sentencing. Blackwell entered a guilty plea to malice murder and several other offenses in connection with his role in the shooting death of Keniesha Carr and the aggravated assault of Derrick Carr. As part of his plea, Blackwell agreed to provide truthful testimony at the trial of his co-indictees, Kerwin Tate and Xavier Bradford. However, on the eve of his co-indictees’ trial, Blackwell filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea pursuant to OCGA 17-7-93 (b), because he had not yet been sentenced. The Supreme Court affirmed the denial of his motion to withdraw, finding "[t]here is no Federal or State constitutional provision stating that a criminal defendant may withdraw his or her guilty plea as a matter of right at any time prior to sentence being pronounced. Nor is there any express language in OCGA 17-7-93 (b) itself indicating that, although the right to withdraw a guilty plea before sentence is pronounced exists, the right cannot be waived." A review of the record revealed that Blackwell did in fact knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently waive this right, therefore the trial court did not err in denying Blackwell's motion.
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