Walden v. State

Summary

The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed the denial of James Mickey Walden’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea to felony murder. The court held that the plea was voluntary and that Walden failed to show coercion by his family. It further held that his ineffective-assistance claim was not properly before the court on direct appeal because it had not been raised below.

Holdings

1. The trial court did not manifestly abuse its discretion by denying Walden's motion to withdraw his guilty plea because the record showed that he knowingly and voluntarily chose to plead guilty and contained no evidence that his mother or sister coerced him.
2. Walden could not raise his ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim on direct appeal because he had not raised it in the trial court during the post-plea proceedings; after expiration of the term of court in which the plea was entered, the proper remedy was a petition for a writ of habeas corpus.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the trial court manifestly abused its discretion by denying Walden's post-sentencing motion to withdraw his guilty plea on the ground that the plea was involuntary because of family coercion.
2. Whether Walden could raise an ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim for the first time on direct appeal when the claim was not raised in the trial court during the post-plea proceedings.

Disposition

affirmed