Commonwealth v. Conaghan

On September 1, 1992, the defendant, Deborah Conaghan, pleaded guilty to the charge of manslaughter in connection with the death of her five year old son, Garrett. On April 29, 1997, approximately four and one-half years later, the defendant filed a motion in the Superior Court to withdraw her guilty plea. She subsequently filed a motion for a psychiatric examination on December 2, 1997, and a nonevidentiary hearing on the motion was held on December 16, 1997. The motion judge, who was not the trial judge, denied both motions on January 12, 1998.

The defendant claims that the judge erred in…