Allen v. State

While I fully concur with the majority’s conclusions in Divisions 1-3,1 must respectfully dissent from the court’s holding in Division 4 that the trial court properly considered Allen’s 1997 DUI nolo plea in aggravation of his sentence when the State made no showing that Allen’s prior plea was voluntary (after Allen showed an irregularity in the taking of the prior plea).

The majority cites to Grant v. State, 231 Ga. App. 868 (501 SE2d 27) (1998), for the proposition that a defendant may not collaterally attack a prior DUI plea that is used against the defendant for sentencing purposes in a…