Sutton v. Sanders

Sears, Chief Justice.

To avoid enhancement of a federal sentence in 2001, Larry Dennis Sutton filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the Fulton County Superior Court challenging his 1993 guilty plea to state drug charges. The habeas court denied the petition, and Sutton appealed. The district attorney’s office opposed Sutton’s petition in the habeas court but has withdrawn its opposition to Sutton’s appeal. For the reasons that follow, we reverse the judgment of the habeas court.

Sutton’s challenge to his 1993 guilty plea rests on the United States Supreme Court’s seminal decision in…