State v. Prindle
Annotate this CasePursuant to a plea agreement, Defendant pleaded guilty to one count of negligent vehicular assault and driving while suspended. The district court sentenced Defendant to a six-year deferred sentence. Defendant, who lived in Oregon, expected to immediately return to Oregon but was informed by his probation officer that he must complete ninety days on supervision before he was permitted to leave Montana. Defendant moved to withdraw his plea. The district court denied the motion, concluding that Defendant's plea was entered voluntarily because defense counsel never promised that Defendant would be allowed to reside in Oregon. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the district court correctly concluded that Defendant failed to demonstrate defense counsel rendered ineffective assistance; and (2) the district court correctly concluded that Defendant's plea was not involuntarily entered where defense counsel's failure to accurately predict that Defendant would have to complete ninety days in Montana on good behavior before returning to Oregon did not rise to the level of gross mischaracterization.
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