State v. Choate

Defendant, Ricky Choate, a/k/a Richard Hubbard, appeals an order of the Jasper County Circuit Court denying his motion to withdraw his plea of guilty to a class C felony charge of forgery.

Choate argues that his plea was coerced in that his attorney advised him that if he did not plead guilty to the charge, his bail would be revoked. Our review is limited to a determination of whether the ruling of the trial court was clearly erroneous. State v. Nielsen, 547 S.W.2d 153, 158 (Mo.App.1977). Choate had the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that his plea was coerced and…