Terry v. Georgia

Appellant Michael Terry filed a pro se out-of-time appeal of his conviction for multiple charges involving the murder of his wife, Juanita Terry. Terry shot and killed his wife before turning the gun on himself. The police responded to a 911 call from the Terrys’ 13-year-old son and found and injured Terry and his wife. Terry pled guilty to two counts of felony murder, and one count each of aggravated assault, aggravated battery, and cruelty to children in the first degree. Terry argued he received ineffective assistance of appellate counsel and that the trial court erred in refusing to allow him to withdraw his plea. The Georgia Supreme Court determined Terry’s motion to withdraw the plea was filed outside of the term of court in which the plea was entered and was thus untimely. Pretermitting whether Terry raised a valid claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, the Court determined he was not entitled to appointed counsel to assist with the untimely motion to withdraw his plea. As the trial court explained to Terry at the hearing on the motion, his only available means to withdraw his plea was through habeas corpus proceedings. View "Terry v. Georgia" on Justia Law