Sims v. Georgia
Annotate this CaseStacey Sims appealed the dismissal of his out-of-time motion to withdraw a guilty plea. Sims was indicted on a 36-count grand jury indictment that included numerous charges of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery, burglary and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. Sims pled to six counts of malice murder, four counts of aggravated assault, four counts of armed robbery, and three counts of burglary in exchange for the State’s withdrawing its notice of intent to seek the death penalty. The trial court imposed six concurrent life sentences for the murder charges, plus 200 years for the aggravated assaults, armed robberies, and burglaries. Sims did not timely appeal the judgment of conviction entered upon his guilty plea. In May 2017, Sims filed a pro se motion for an out-of-time appeal, alleging that plea counsel was ineffective for failing to discuss and investigate whether Sims’ custodial statement was voluntarily made and that his plea was not freely and voluntarily given. Sims did not allege, however, that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel in connection with his failure to bring a timely appeal or a timely motion to withdraw his guilty plea. In February 2020, Sims again filed an out-of-time motion to withdraw his guilty plea, alleging generally that he was denied an opportunity to withdraw his plea. Sims appealed the trial court’s dismissal order, alleging, for the first time, that plea counsel’s ineffectiveness and post-plea abandonment resulted in his failure to timely file a motion to withdraw his guilty plea. Sims further claimed that, under Collier v. Georgia, 834 SE2d 769 (2019), he was entitled to an evidentiary hearing. Finding no error in the trial court’s dismissal order, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed.
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