Withdrawal of Guilty Plea - Inadequate Factual Basis for Plea (NJ Appellate Lawyer Update)

January 20, 2010

This recent NJ criminal defendant was allowed to withdraw his guilty plea after the Appellate Division found that there was an insufficient factual basis for his plea.

State v. Lawrence Speed, unpublished opinion, App. Div. Docket No. A-5912-07T4 (December 15, 2009) - Conviction reversed, case remanded. "Speed's response to the question 'what if anything did you do that makes you guilty of endangering the welfare of a child' was not sufficient to satisfy the requirement that he admit to knowledge, at the time of the offense, that his conduct would 'tend to impair or debauch' the victim's morals. He admitted to sexual intercourse, but not to knowing that the conduct would tend to impair the victim's morals at the time of the offense. Consequently, there was an inadequate factual basis for the plea." (Ingrid A. Enriquez, Designated Counsel)
http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/opinions/a5912-07.pdf