Section 23.22 Tendered Guilty Plea Withdrawn

• Library: Criminal Practice 2012 Supp

D. (§23.22) Tendered Guilty Plea Withdrawn

Generally, a withdrawn guilty plea, and any statement made in connection with it, is not admissible as evidence at a subsequent trial adjudicating the defendant’s guilt or innocence of that charge. Kercheval v. United States, 274 U.S. 220 (1927). Reasons include the great probative value that a jury is likely to attach to a guilty plea and that the use of a withdrawn guilty plea as evidence would have the effect of reinstating the original guilty plea in direct conflict with the court’s determination to hold that plea a nullity. State v. Meyers, 12 S.W. 516, 519 (Mo. 1889) (disallowing evidence that defendant tried to plead guilty at arraignment), overruled on other grounds, Ex parte Keet, 287 S.W. 463 (Mo. banc 1926). “By refusing to receive the plea, and granting the defendant a trial, this, of necessity, meant a trial with the issues of fact to be determined by the jury, and not to be determined by the previous plea of the defendant, which admitted all that the state desired to prove.” Meyers, 12 S.W. at 519.

The admissions of an...