Terry v. State, 301 Ga. 776

Michael Terry pled guilty (Sept. 2013 term) to charges arising from the murder of his wife and was sentenced to life plus 20 years concurrent.
Terry claims he asked plea counsel to withdraw the guilty plea the same day; plea counsel filed a motion on November 11, 2013 (after the next term began Nov. 4, 2013).
Trial court denied the motion to withdraw as untimely and therefore beyond the court’s jurisdiction because it was filed outside the term in which the plea was entered.
New counsel (Howe) was appointed and later filed, then orally withdrew, an amended motion to withdraw the plea; court reiterated lack of jurisdiction and denied relief.
Terry filed multiple pro se motions for an out-of-time appeal; the trial court ultimately granted an out-of-time appeal from the order denying withdrawal and permitted Terry to proceed pro se on appeal.
Terry asserted ineffective assistance of appellate counsel and that he was denied appointed counsel for a direct appeal; the Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s rulings.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Right to appointed counsel for "first appeal"	Terry says he was denied counsel on his first/direct appeal and did not waive the right	No timely direct appeal or motion to withdraw plea was filed; appointed counsel required only for trial and direct appeal when timely triggered	Denied — no entitlement to appointed counsel; no timely motion/appeal triggered right (claim meritless)
Timeliness/jurisdiction for motion to withdraw plea	Terry asserts his motion was effectively timely (filed within a statutory range) so court had jurisdiction	Motion was filed after the term in which plea was entered, rendering it untimely and depriving court of jurisdiction	Denied — motion untimely and court lacked jurisdiction to consider it
Ineffective assistance of appellate counsel re: withdrawal motion	Terry contends Howe was ineffective for withdrawing the motion on jurisdictional grounds	Even if counsel’s performance is questioned, Terry was not entitled to appointed counsel for an untimely motion; habeas is the proper remedy	Denied — counsel’s conduct not reversible here; remedy is habeas, and no right to counsel for untimely motion
Availability of other relief	Terry implied other statutory bases or remedies to withdraw plea	Court explained the proper avenue is habeas corpus, not an untimely collateral motion in the term-based framework	Affirmed — habeas available; trial court decision stands

Pierce v. State, 289 Ga. 893 (holding appointed counsel entitlement is limited and a timely motion to withdraw plea triggers counsel) (2011)
Brooks v. State, 301 Ga. 748 (recognizing limits on appointed counsel for post-plea motions) (2017)
Henry v. State, 269 Ga. 851 (untimely motion to withdraw plea filed outside term is jurisdictionally barred) (1998)
Gibson v. Turpin, 270 Ga. 855 (state must provide counsel for trial and first appeal only) (1999)
Tyner v. State, 289 Ga. 592 (pro se filings by represented defendants have no legal effect to divest trial court of jurisdiction) (2011)