My nephew pleaded out to 4th degreee assault recently in Yakima County. He only had a court appointed attorney.

Yakima, WA Viewed 40 times. Posted 5 months ago in Criminal Defense

Thanks for your answer. He only had a court appointed attorney. Is it too late for him to change his answer? They don't appear before the judge until August? There was only one witness who could barely see what was going on, and it was not in direct sight. The second witness was a worker that the first witness was describing the scene to at the time, and the second witness was on the phone w/ the police (she did not see it herself). He just now got the witness report, I have no idea what it actually says. He himself has not even read it. He just got the CPS report and also has not read that. I think its a weak case, but he does not want to risk going to jail and have his daughter continually dragged through this. Is it too late for him to change his mind?

Answers (2)

Elizabeth Rankin Powell

This attorney is licensed in Washington. Posted 4 months ago.

It depends on whether the court has accepted his plea yet, or not. If he has counsel, they will know and you should direct your questions to his lawyer. If he hasn't actually entered the plea - you say that is set for AUgust in your facts, but your title says he pleaded out so it is really confusing.

Pleading to DV assault has serious lifelong consequences and he should be informed of the ramifications.

Elizabeth Powell

Joseph Briscoe Dane

This attorney is licensed in California. Posted 4 months ago.

Your question is a little unclear.

If he accepted a plea bargain, but hasn't yet been sentenced (is that what he's going for in August?), there may be ways to withdraw his plea. He can discuss his desire to withdraw his plea with his court appointed attorney. If they are unwilling to help him, then he should get a private criminal defense attorney to look into withdrawing his plea. The specifics of the case, including what forms he filled out and what he was told, will make a difference in his ability to take back his plea.

These situations are very fact-specific. Without access to the documents and transcripts of what actually happened in court, it's going to be tough for us to answer much more than this.