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Appeals court weighs whether Najjar error voids guilty plea in homicide case
Summary
Counsel and the Commonwealth clashed May 5 before an appeals panel over whether a defendant’s erroneous advice about parole eligibility or “good time” requires vacation of a guilty plea under Najjar and related precedent.
An Appeals Court panel heard arguments on May 5 over whether a guilty plea should be withdrawn because the defendant was allegedly given incorrect advice about parole eligibility and the effect of “good time” credit. Suzanne Renaud, representing the appellant David Delbertis, urged the panel to follow Najjar, which the defense said treats certain misinformation about mandatory-minimum consequences as voiding a plea.
Renaud told the court the key question is whether plea counsel and the record left the defendant with a reasonable and incorrect belief that the parole-eligibility date could be reduced by good-time credits;…
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