 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Woods v. State5/19/1998
.
On September 27, 1996, prior to sentencing, Woods filed a motion asking that Crow be allowed to withdraw as his counsel. Crow's attached affidavit stated that Woods had recently told her he was not happy with her representation, and he thought Crow had lied to and withheld information from him. Woods told Crow that he intended to withdraw his guilty plea and obtain new counsel. On October 18, 1996, Woods filed a motion to change his plea to not guilty. He argued that his counsel had been deficient and that his plea had not been voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently entered.
In conjunction with his motion to withdraw his guilty plea, Woods attached a letter to the district court in which he asserted that the State had lost audio tapes of his young nephews' statements and, therefore, Crow should have moved for a dismissal of charges against him. Woods also claimed that Crow had failed to pursue an NHP videotape of the accident scene, and a videotape depicting his treatment at the hospital following his accident. Woods stated that Crow had "badgered" him into saying only "yes sir, no sir" during his plea canvass, and that Crow had threatened him with 140 years in prison if he did not plead guilty. Woods contended that Crow had told him to lie to the probation officer during the pre-sentence investigation and state that he had no memory of the accident. Woods also asserted that Crow was aware of a phlebotomist who had seen seat belt marks on Woods' body; however, Crow did not have this person testify. In Conclusion, Woods stated that he had been coerced during plea negotiations, and that he had a mentality of a sixteen-year-old at the time. Woods stated that if he had received a copy of the preliminary hearing transcript he would not have entered a guilty plea.
On October 28, 1996, the district court allowed Crow to withdraw as Woods' counsel and appointed William Rogers as new defense counsel. At the December 3, 1996 hearing on Woods' motion to withdraw his guilty plea, Woods, his mother--Mrs. Woods--and Crow testified. Mrs. Woods testified that her son was like an eight-year-old since the accident and had been rated at one hundred percent disability by Social Security . She asserted that Crow had told Woods' family to lie and say that Woods had no recollection of the accident; Crow had refused their request for a transcript of the preliminary hearing until after Woods had signed the plea memorandum, and would not allow them to be present when Woods had signed the agreement. According to Mrs. Woods, after signing the plea agreement, Woods came out of Crow's office crying.
Woods then testified that he had lied, at Crow's behest, to parole and probation about having no memory of the accident. He reiterated all of his complaints set forth in the letter accompanying his motion to withdraw his plea. Additionally, he stated that because Crow's experts had said that seat belts had not been used by the adult occupants of the Dodge, Crow had simply ignored the statement by the phlebotomist who had seen seat belt marks on Woods shortly after the accident. Finally, Woods testified that Crow had "let all of the witnesses get away" who had seen the accident. Woods contradicted his mother's testimony and stated that his family had been present and had reviewed the plea agreement when he signed it.
Crow testified that she had explained to Woods that the most he could get if he went to trial was 104 years, but that he would probably get a forty-year sentence. Crow told Woods, while discussing the option of a plea bargain, that none of her experts had been able to rebut NHP Trooper Stout's contention that Woods had been the driver. She stated that on the day Woods signed
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Nevada DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|