Supreme Court of Georgia
Winfrey v. the State.
June 29, 2018816 S.E.2d 613
Summary
The Supreme Court of Georgia held that the trial judge impermissibly participated in plea negotiations by implicitly communicating that Winfrey would receive a harsher sentence if he rejected the plea offer and went to trial. The court further held that this participation was sufficiently coercive to render Winfrey's guilty plea involuntary, requiring reversal of his convictions. Justice Blackwell, dissenting and joined by Justice Peterson, would have required evidence that the judge's comments actually induced the plea before finding it involuntary.