People v. McGee (1991)

In People v. McGee (1991) 232 Cal.App.3d 620, the defendant entered a negotiated plea but later moved to withdraw his plea. At a hearing on the defendant's motion to withdraw his plea, the prosecutor opposed the motion and cross-examined the defendant. The trial court granted the defendant's motion to withdraw his plea. (McGee, supra, 232 Cal.App.3d at p. 622.) The prosecutor moved for reconsideration. More than a month after granting the defendant's motion to withdraw his plea, the trial court reversed its ruling, reinstating the plea. (Id. at pp. 622-623.) McGee concluded that the trial court had no jurisdiction to entertain the prosecutor's motion for reconsideration, noting that the order of withdrawal was final, there was no new evidence, and there had been no continuance of the hearing on the defendant's withdrawal motion. (Id. at pp. 624-627.) McGee noted that if the People desired review of the final nonappealable order, they should have petitioned for a writ of mandate in the appellate court, rather than seeking reconsideration in the trial court. (Id. at pp. 623-624.) In sum, the defendant pled guilty in exchange for a probationary sentence. Before sentencing, however, the trial court granted the defendant's motion to withdraw his plea, finding the plea involuntary. Later, the trial court granted the prosecution's motion, based on the defendant's alleged failure to show prejudice, to reinstate the defendant's guilty plea. The trial court imposed the agreed sentence, and the defendant appealed. The appellate court reversed, holding that once the court granted the defendant's motion to withdraw his plea, it could not reinstate the guilty plea on its own or the prosecution's motion. McGee does not apply to a court's power to vacate a guilty plea because a bargained-for condition to that plea failed.