When you, as a defendant (the person charged with a crime) plead guilty to committing that crime, you give up or "waives" many important things. These include the right to a jury trial and the right to confront and question witnesses, to name a few. Also included in a guilty plea is a waiver of defenses you may have to the crime. Self-defense, entrapment and alibi are examples of defenses you've probably heard or read about.
The waiver of defenses makes sense. When you plead guilty, you're generally admitting that you committed the crime and agreeing to let a court sentence or punish you for it. So, there's really no room for you to say "It was self-defense," or "I wasn't even in the state when the crime was committed."
However, there are times when you may raise some defenses after you've pleaded guilty and are convicted. Generally, the defenses that you may be able to raise after a guilty plea fall into two categories:
- Challenges to the court's jurisdiction or authority over you
- Violations of your constitutional rights when you made the plea
Jurisdictional Challenges
This is when you claim that the court didn't have the power or authority to hear your case. This may happen for a variety of reasons, such as when:
- The grand jury indictment that charging you with a crime is invalid or no good because it there were errors in the way it was made. For example, federal grand juries sit for a period of 18 months. If a grand jury indicted you in month 19, the indictment is invalid
- You were charged with committing a crime in a particular state or county but you pleaded guilty in a court someplace else. For example, if you're charged with burglary in Kentucky, you generally can't be charged with a crime and brought to trial in Ohio
- The law you're charged with violating is unconstitutional, and so any conviction under that law is illegal
Raising challenges to a court's jurisdiction is complex, and whether there's one in your case depends on your case's facts and circumstances. It's a good idea to talk to an attorney if you think the court didn't have the power to take your plea.
Constitutional Issues
As a general rule, if your plea is made voluntarily, intelligently and knowingly, you waive any constitutional challenges you may have to your conviction. However, if you can show some violation of your constitutional rights made your plea involuntary or not intelligently and knowingly made, it's possible your plea may be thrown out. In most cases, if this happens, you'll go back to the judge that accepted your plea for a new trial. You might even get another chance to negotiate a plea.
Another general rule is that if you have an attorney when you enter a guilty plea, the plea will be considered to be knowing and intelligent if you later challenge it. So, as a practical matter, a defendant's Sixth Amendment right to the effective assistance of counsel is the constitutional claim that's raised most often. To prove ineffective assistance of counsel, you need to show that:
- Your attorney's performance was deficient, or inadequate, and
- The deficient performance hurt your defense. If it wasn't for your lawyer's serious mistakes, your case would've ended differently. For example, you would've gone to trial instead of pleading guilty
This isn't an easy test. The facts and circumstances of your case are crucial; not every mistake counts. It's probably not good enough if you pleaded guilty because you think your lawyer gave you bad advice about your odds of winning at trial. However, if the attorney didn't fully explain the plea deal or talked to you for only a few minutes just before you made the plea, you may be able to show ineffective assistance. If you think your attorney didn't give you effective assistance, you should talk to another experienced attorney immediately.
Other Claims
There are things that may make your plea involuntary or not knowingly made. Again, these aren't really "defenses" as you normally think of that word. Rather, these are attacks on the validity of the plea itself. They mostly deal with constitutional matters. You see, when you make guilty plea, you have to show up in court and have a discussion with a judge. At this hearing, the judge has to tell you about and explain certain things. This includes the fact that by pleading guilty, you're waiving important constitutional rights, such as jury trial rights and confronting witnesses against you. If the judge doesn't do this, it's possible that your plea isn't knowingly and intelligently made.
The laws and court rules in your area will specify exactly what a judge must tell you. The state rules may vary, but many states follow the federal rule.
There are some constitutional claims that are almost always waived when you plead guilty. For example, you generally waive:
- Your Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial. Your trial must be held within a reasonable time after you're arrested
- Any claim that a search and seizure of violated your Fourth Amendment rights
- Your Fifth Amendment right against Double Jeopardy; this protects against being convicted twice for the same crime