Horace Thompson Owens, Jr. v. Commonwealth of Virginia, 1793154

Owens pled guilty on June 1, 2015 to six felonies (forgery, uttering, robbery, escape, conspiracy to escape, damaging jail property); plea form contained no agreed sentence. The court questioned him under oath, found the pleas voluntary, and entered convictions.
At sentencing on October 6, 2015 the court imposed a total active term of 14 years.
On October 26, defense counsel filed (1) a motion to withdraw as counsel and (2) a motion to set aside the convictions/withdraw the guilty pleas, stating Owens claimed he had been manipulated into pleading guilty. Counsel explained the motion was necessary to preserve post-judgment rights within the 21-day window.
At the October 27 hearing the court granted counsel’s motion to withdraw and appointed new counsel, then immediately heard Owens’s motion to withdraw his guilty pleas while Owens was unrepresented. The court denied the plea-withdrawal motion; the newly appointed attorney did not learn of the appointment until after the court’s jurisdiction expired.
Owens appealed, arguing the court erred by ruling on the plea-withdrawal motion while he was effectively without counsel and by denying the motion. The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded for a re-hearing on the motion to withdraw the pleas.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court violated Owens’s right to counsel by ruling on his motion to withdraw guilty pleas before new counsel could appear	Owens: court decided the motion while he was unrepresented, denying his Sixth Amendment right at a critical stage	Commonwealth: court permissibly questioned and ruled because Owens had been questioned at plea and counsel had moved to withdraw; new counsel could re-file within statutory period	Court: Reversed—hearing to withdraw pleas is a critical stage; ruling while Owens unrepresented violated right to counsel; remand for re-hearing

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (ineffective-assistance framework and role of Counsel Clause)
Holloway v. Arkansas, 435 U.S. 475 (deprivation of counsel at critical stages is reversible)
Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18 (harmless-error principles)
Browning v. Commonwealth, 19 Va. App. 295 (Va. Ct. App. 1994) (plea-withdrawal hearing is a critical stage; defendant entitled to counsel)
Huguely v. Commonwealth, 63 Va. App. 92 (Va. Ct. App. 2014) (constitutional right to counsel review standard)
Carter v. Commonwealth, 11 Va. App. 569 (Va. Ct. App. 1991) (right to counsel fundamental; cannot be treated as harmless)
Moreau v. Fuller, 276 Va. 127 (Va. 2008) (a court speaks only through its written orders)
United States v. Ellison, 798 F.2d 1102 (7th Cir. 1986) (supporting principle that defendant cannot be forced to litigate substitution of counsel pro se)