State v. Guillen, 2013 MT 184N

Alberto Guillen intentionally drove his van into his brother, causing life‑threatening injuries and partial paralysis.
The State charged Guillen with attempted deliberate homicide and failure to stop at the scene of an accident.
The State amended the deliberate homicide charge to attempted mitigated deliberate homicide; Guillen pleaded guilty to both counts after signing a waiver of rights.
No sentencing agreement was reached; the district court later imposed the maximum 40‑year sentence for attempted mitigated homicide and a concurrent 10‑year sentence for leaving the scene.
Guillen moved to withdraw his guilty plea, claiming his plea was involuntary and that defense counsel had promised a 15‑year prison term in a plea agreement.
The district court denied the motion, finding Guillen’s waiver and plea showed he understood there was no binding plea‑bargain sentence, and that he presented no evidence his plea was involuntary.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Guillen’s guilty plea was involuntary such that withdrawal is warranted	The State: plea was voluntary based on signed waiver and colloquy	Guillen: plea coerced by counsel’s assurance of a 15‑year sentence	Court: plea was voluntary; waiver and plea colloquy establish understanding; no evidence of coercion
Whether the court breached a plea agreement by imposing maximum sentence	The State: no agreed sentence existed to breach	Guillen: counsel promised a 15‑year term, so sentence breached the agreement	Court: no plea‑agreement promise shown; no breach

State v. Valdez-Mendoza, 361 Mont. 503 (Mont. 2011) (mixed question review and voluntariness standard for plea withdrawal)
State v. Robinson, 350 Mont. 493 (Mont. 2009) (good cause to withdraw plea turns on voluntariness)