Buyer's Remorse: Withdrawing from a Plea Agreement

Sometimes a party to a plea agreement has buyer’s remorse and wants to get out of the deal. The standard for evaluating such a request varies, depending on when the motion is made. Consider first a motion to withdraw from a plea agreement made before the agreement is accepted by the court. The rule is that the State may withdraw from a plea agreement any time before entry of the plea or before there’s an act of detrimental reliance by the defendant. State v. Collins, 300 N.C. 142, 148-49 (1980); State v. Hudson, 331 N.C. 122, 146-49 (1992) (rejecting the defendant’s argument that suspending trial preparation constituted detrimental reliance); State v. Marlow, 334 N.C. 273, 279-81 (1993) (rejecting the defendant’s argument that submitting to a polygraph constituted detrimental reliance); State v. Johnson, 126 N.C. App. 271 (1997) (following Collins and Marlow). The defendant, however, may withdraw from a plea agreement before entry of the plea regardless of any prejudice to the prosecution. Collins, 300 N.C. at 149. What about when the buyer’s remorse doesn’t kick in until after plea has been accepted by the court? Typically such a withdrawal request comes from the defendant. If the motion is made before sentencing, the trial court may allow the defendant to withdraw a guilty plea for any “fair and just” reason. State v. Handy, 326 N.C. 532, 539 (1990); see also State v. Meyer, 330 N.C. 738, 742 (1992); Ager, 152 N.C. App. at 579. Motions to withdraw made before sentencing, and “especially [...]