The Appellate Group

State v. Young

State v. Young, 2023 UT App 26 (Harris, J.)

Criminal

Young signed a statement in support of his guilty plea to a drug charge after his probation officer entered his trailer and recovered various drug paraphernalia. That statement confirmed that Young “did knowingly possess” drugs and was “entering [his] please voluntarily.” Young later sought to withdraw his guilty plea claiming that it was not voluntarily made on the basis that the officer’s search of Young’s trailer was illegal. The Court of Appeals affirmed, holding: 

  • Defendants seeking to withdraw a guilty plea on the basis of their unawareness or misunderstanding of a potential motion must provide evidence that they (1) did not know about or misunderstood the motion, (2) had not appropriately factored that motion into their decision-making, and (3) would not have pled guilty had they known about the potential motion. Of note here: Young provided no evidence regarding his state of mind at the time he entered his guilty plea.

Read the full court opinion