Tenth Circuit Reverses Denial of Bid to Withdraw Guilty Plea

A federal district court improperly denied a Black criminal defendant’s guilty plea withdrawal after his counsel told him he would face an all-White jury at trial, the Tenth Circuit ruled.

The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit weighed whether Swan’s guilty plea was “knowing and voluntary.” Swan argued his plea was unknowing and involuntary because he’d been told his right to an impartial jury didn’t exist, the opinion said.

“Swan’s plea was not knowing and voluntary because, during the conversation in which he decided to plead guilty, his plea counsel materially misrepresented his right to an impartial jury ...