Georgia Court Of Appeals, (July 09, 1996)
Docket number: A96A1047
DECIDED
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Judgment reversed. McMurray, P. J., and Ruffin, J., concur.
While represented by counsel, John E. Johnson, Jr., entered a plea of guilty to charges of driving while under the influence of alcohol, attempting to elude a law enforcement officer, and driving with a suspended license. Johnson was sentenced by the State Court of Gwinnett County and, more than a year later, filed a motion in state court to withdraw his plea, Claiming it was not knowingly, intelligently, freely or voluntarily made. The trial court granted his motion. The state appeals, arguing that the trial court erred in allowing the guilty plea to be withdrawn when the motion was filed outside the term of court in which the judgment was entered. We agree and reverse.The trial court's authority to grant a motion to withdraw a guilty plea ends with the term of court in which the judgment of conviction is entered. State v. Kight,