State v. Prado
Annotate this CaseThe State charged Defendant with one count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child under fourteen years old. The district court accepted Defendant’s no contest plea. At the sentencing hearing, Defendant sought to withdraw his plea. The district court denied Defendant’s motion and proceeded to sentencing. Defendant appealed. At issue before the Supreme Court was whether the district court erred by failing to inquire regarding an alleged conflict of interest between Defendant and his counsel and by failing to appoint conflict-free counsel to represent Defendant at the motion to withdraw plea and sentencing hearing. The Supreme Court reversed the district court’s denial of Defendant’s motion to withdraw his plea and vacated the sentence, holding (1) under the circumstances of this case, Defendant and his counsel alerted the trial court to a potential conflict between them, and the district court erred by failing to inquire further into the nature of that conflict; and (2) Defendant was denied effective assistance of counsel because he was not provided conflict-free counsel to assist him in arguing his motion to withdraw his plea. Remanded.
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