Supreme Court Rules No Statutory Relief After Guilty Plea - Articles

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Supreme Court Rules No Statutory Relief After Guilty Plea

Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Jul 7, 2016
A Tennessee Supreme Court ruling issued today held that defendants who have entered a guilty plea cannot seek statutory relief – only those found guilty at trial may do so under Tennessee law. Error coram nobis is a procedure that allows defendants to petition for a new trial if they believe there is new or newly discovered evidence that became available following the trial, and the court opined that this procedure cannot be invoked by a defendant who pled guilty. Justice Jeffrey S. Bivins authored the opinion. Chief Justice Sharon G. Lee filed a dissenting opinion, writing that a defendant who has pled guilty should not be denied the opportunity to challenge a conviction in the case of new evidence being discovered.