Motion to withdraw Candido Pena's guilty plea of sexual misconduct with a minor under age of 14 denied by Judge Miles

Courtroom 2
Judge Marilyn Miles
People: DDA Zach Curtis
Defense: Russ Clanton

The defendant filed a motion to withdraw his previous guilty plea and the People oppose that motion.
Judge Marilyn Miles denied the defense motion filed by Mr. Clanton to withdraw Candido Pena's guilty plea.

Candido Pena appeared in court today dressed in orange and before his case was called, he spoke briefly with Mr. Clanton via a certified court interpreter. Before attorneys presented their arguments, Mr. Pena addressed the court via the interpreter. "I was under much pressure at that time and not able to speak to my wife. I could not give a clear answer. I was confused."

Judge Miles said she had reviewed and read both the defense motion and the People's opposition and asked if the attorneys wanted to present verbal arguments before her decision.

Mr. Clanton said, "There is nothing I point as fault to Counsel or Court. The Court showed patience when the plea was entered." He reiterated that "nothing by the Court or Mr. Curtis created the problem." He said the Friday before the plea was entered, there were a number of interpreter issues and Mr. Pena wanted to speak to his wife. The Monday following that Friday, there was a special set at 1:30 p.m. and that he had arranged for Mr. Pena's wife to meet with the defendant. Due to her "employment issues, she could not get to court on time. The interpersonal issues Mr. pena and his wife had were not linked to the ple" but Pena wanted to talk to his wife before making a decision.

Another court interpreter said that he would not interpret anything outside court so Mr. Clanton said he had to explain to Mr. Pena and that the defendant did not fully understand.  Mr. Clanton said that in the courtroom, "the woman (Mr. Pena's wife) was under a lot of pressure", surrounded by strangers in an open courtroom. "She finally left in tears. Mr. Pena felt the only alternative he had was to go to trial." Mr. Clanton said that Pena's wife was embarrassed to be in the courtroom. "Getting his wife's opinion was very important, therefore he was under a lot of duress." Mr. Clantonthen cited a case, People v Herlichs. "He has limited education. He has organizational difficulties," Mr. Clanton said of Mr. Pena.

DDA Curtis said that Mr. Clanton "did not talk about internal duress, he talked about duress from outside factors. The defendant cannot create duress for legal standing." Mr. Curtis said that the Court had met legal standards. "Don't know what more court could have done. Counsel spoke to defendant prior to accepting the plea."

"There is also a family outside with the victim," said Mr. Curtis. "They need closure. There is a need for finality for the victim and the family."

After hearing from both attorneys, Judge Miles said, "Because this is a serious offense, I made sure I took the extra time to make sure Mr. Pena understood the consequences. I find that his plea was knowingly and voluntarily entered. I don't find evidence to withdraw the plea, the motion is denied."

Dr. Renouf was supposed to evaluate him and that hearing had been continued, once already on march 10. The report was not received by either the Court or the Counsel. Mr. Clanton informed Judge Miles that Dr. Renouf had visited his client yesterday so a future date of April 2 at 2 p.m. has been set to receive that report. Probation will receive that report and then they will provide a pre-sentencing report and then a sentencing date will be scheduled.

Please check the following link (which includes previous post earlier today) for complete background:

http://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2015/03/people-file-opposition-to-withdrawl-of.html