Commonwealth v. Allen

In 1995, the defendant, James Allen, pleaded guilty to one count of rape and two counts of indecent assault and battery. In 2015, he filed a motion for a new trial seeking to withdraw his guilty pleas, which was denied without a hearing. He now appeals the denial of that motion. On appeal, Allen argues that (1) plea counsel had an actual conflict of interest; (2) plea counsel had a potential conflict of interest; (3) he received ineffective assistance of counsel; and (4) his plea was not intelligent and voluntary. We affirm.

Standard of review. "Once accepted, [a] plea of guilty ... is itself…