Murray v. State, 314 Ga. App. 240

Murray pleaded guilty to five counts: two armed robberies, two aggravated assaults, and one robbery.
Sentences: twenty years for each armed robbery, fifteen years for robbery, five years for each aggravated assault (concurrent with each other and consecutive to armed robberies).
Aggravated assault convictions were later found to merge into armed robbery convictions, requiring vacatur of those sentences.
The court remanded for resentencing on the remaining counts and Murray appealed the denial of a motion to withdraw his guilty plea as to those counts.
Before resentencing, the trial court merged aggravated assaults into armed robberies and vacated those sentences, leaving armed robbery sentences intact.
The court denied Murray’s March 22, 2011 motion to withdraw the guilty plea as to the counts with non-void sentences.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
May a defendant withdraw a guilty plea as a matter of right when some counts’ sentences are void	Murray	State	No right to withdraw for those counts with valid sentences
Does void- sentence withdrawal apply when not all counts were void	Murray	State	Not applicable; only void counts permit withdrawal
Does Kaiser apply where only some convictions were vacated and resentencing not vacated	Murray	State	Kaiser not controlling; no basis for voiding remaining sentences

Kaiser v. State, 285 Ga.App. 63 (2007) (where a sentence is void, withdrawal of plea is allowed until proper sentencing)
Diaz v. State, 279 Ga.App. 134 (2006) (no right to withdraw plea where sentence on one conviction is not void and no merging issue)
Clue v. State, 273 Ga.App. 672 (2005) (withdrawal appropriate when counsel ineffective related to certain counts)
Roomy v. State, 287 Ga. 1 (2010) (void sentence analysis for multi-count cases)
Jones v. State, 307 Ga.App. 714 (2011) (void sentencing limitations and merger considerations)