Wright v. State, 298 Ga. 124

Jeffrey Wright pled guilty to felony murder and was sentenced to life on March 4, 2015, in Wilcox County Superior Court for a February 14, 2014 burglary and fatal stabbing.
The plea and sentence occurred during the December 2014 term of court; that term expired on March 9, 2015.
Wright filed a pro se motion to withdraw his guilty plea on April 6, 2015; the trial court denied the motion on April 9, 2015.
Wright appealed pro se from the denial of his motion to withdraw the plea.
The State argued (and the record showed) Wright’s plea was entered voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently after being apprised of rights and a factual basis for the plea.
Wright also claimed ineffective assistance of counsel induced the plea; the court found the record did not support that claim.

Issue	Wright's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court had jurisdiction to consider a motion to withdraw a guilty plea filed after the term of court ended	Wright argued the court could hear his April 6 motion to withdraw his plea	The State argued the motion was filed after the term expired so the court lacked jurisdiction	Court held the motion was untimely; term had expired March 9, so court lacked jurisdiction; relief requires habeas corpus
Whether Wright's guilty plea was involuntary	Wright contended plea was involuntary	State pointed to the plea colloquy showing Wright was informed of rights, consulted counsel, and acknowledged voluntariness	Court held plea was voluntary, knowing, and intelligent
Whether counsel's alleged errors rendered the plea involuntary (ineffective assistance)	Wright argued counsel failed to advise him adequately, causing him to plead guilty	State argued the record shows full consultation and no deficient performance that would have changed Wright's decision	Court held ineffective-assistance claim failed because Wright did not show deficient performance or reasonable probability he would have gone to trial
Appropriate remedy for an untimely or procedurally barred withdrawal request	Wright sought withdrawal in trial court	State maintained habeas corpus is the proper avenue now that term expired	Court held habeas corpus is the available means to challenge the plea post-term

Henry v. State, 269 Ga. 851 (507 SE2d 419) (trial court lacks jurisdiction to allow plea withdrawal after term expires)
Loyd v. State, 288 Ga. 481 (705 SE2d 616) (habeas corpus as avenue to challenge plea post-term)
Campos v. State, 292 Ga. 83 (734 SE2d 359) (requirements for valid guilty plea colloquy)
Harden v. Johnson, 280 Ga. 464 (629 SE2d 259) (standard for withdrawing guilty plea based on ineffective assistance)
Trauth v. State, 283 Ga. 141 (657 SE2d 225) (counsel error must show reasonable probability defendant would have gone to trial)