Withdrawal Of Improvident Plea Of Guilty
Section 4. Plea of guilty to non-capital offense; reception of evidence,
discretionary
Consequences of Plea of Guilty
- As a rule, a plea of guilty is an unqualified admission of the
crime and of the attending circumstances (aggravating and/or
qualifying) alleged in the complaint. Such plea removes the
necessity of presenting further evidence and for all intents and
purposes the case is deemed tried on its merits and submitted for
decision. However, the court may, upon motion, allow the
presentation of evidence to prove aggravating and mitigating
circumstances.
The trial court may allow an accused to plead guilty and at the
same time allow him to prove other mitigating circumstances.
However, if what the accused would prove is an exempting
circumstance, which would amount to a withdrawal of his plea of
not guilty.
If the accused is permitted to present evidence after his plea
of guilty to a non-capital offense and such shows that the
accused is not guilty of the crime charged, the accused must be
acquitted, for there is no rule which provides that simply because
the accused pleaded guilty to the charge that his conviction
automatically follows. Additional evidence independent of the
plea may be considered to convince the judge that it was
intelligently made.
For non-capital offenses, the reception of evidence is merely
discretionary on the part of the court. If the information or
complaint is sufficient for the judge to render judgment on a
non-capital offense, he may do so. But if the case involves a
capital offense, the reception of evidence to prove the guilt
and degree of culpability of the accused is mandatory.
Section 5. Withdrawal of improvident plea of guilty
Instances Of Improvident Plea:
1. Plea of guilty was compelled by violence or intimidation
2. Accused did not fully understand the meaning and consequences of
his plea
3. Insufficient information to sustain conviction of the offense charged
4. Information does not charge an offense
5. Court has no jurisdiction
When Improvident Plea may be Withdrawn
- At any time before judgment of conviction becomes final, the court
may permit and improvident plea of guilty to be withdrawn and be
substituted by a plea of not guilty.
People vs Lambino, 103 Phil 504 (1958)
- The withdrawal of a plea of guilty is not a matter of right to the
accused but of sound discretion to the trial court.
The reason for this is that trial has already begun and the withdrawal
of the plea will change the theory of the case and put all past
proceedings to waste. Moreover, at this point, there is a presumption
that the plea was made voluntarily.