Downs v. State

Hines, Justice.

Downs pled guilty to malice murder on January 4, 1995. On May 4, 1998, seven terms of court later, he filed a document styled: “Petitioner Notice of Filing Motion for New Trial on Newly Discovered Evidence.” The superior court treated this pleading as a motion to withdraw the guilty plea and dismissed it for lack of jurisdiction because it was out of term. Downs appeals and we affirm.

Downs contends the court should not have treated his pleading as a motion to withdraw a guilty plea but as an extraordinary motion for new trial. One who has entered a plea of guilty cannot move…