Downer v. State

WALSH, Justice:

This appeal from the Superior Court presents the question of whether a defendant who plea bargained may seek to vacate a guilty plea to an offense which subsequently was determined not to exist. The Superior Court ruled that although the offense to which the defendant, David Downer, had pleaded guilty had been impliedly repealed prior to the entry of the plea, the resulting benefit to the defendant in avoiding prosecution for a greater offense precluded post sentencing relief. The Superi- or Court also ruled that since the facts underlying the charge constituted indictable…