By Barry Porterfield
No — that’s the answer a robbery defendant received from a Garvin County judge Thursday in response to his request to withdraw a previously submitted no contest plea.
Michael Shaw, 38, received his day in a Pauls Valley courtroom — something District Judge Candace Blalock ruled he voluntarily gave up when he submitted the new plea in a case that accuses him of brutally attacking an 80-year-old Lindsay man last December and taking the man’s two wallets filled with thousands of dollars.
“We had a jury to hear this case. The state was ready to bring up witnesses. I was very careful on how we proceeded with this,” Blalock said during Thursday’s hearing for Shaw. “It appears to me that he could have had his day in court and he chose not to take it.”
The judge’s comments came after arguments for the plea withdrawal were made by Shaw’s new defense attorney, Elton Jenkins of Norman.
“He’s saying the new plea was invalid. He’s asking for a new trial,” Jenkins said during the hour-long hearing in Garvin County District Court.
“My client offered the plea through influence, more specifically coercion,” he said.
The reference is to Shaw’s no contest plea being submitted only moments before the start of his jury trial that had been scheduled to start in mid-September.
At that time, Shaw’s court-appointed attorney was Dee Graves of Pauls Valley. Graves was the target of Shaw’s request to withdraw the plea and return the case to the trial stage.
“He entered the plea because he did not have confidence in his previous attorney,” Jenkins.
It was a position quickly targeted by George Burnett, an assistant district attorney in Garvin County.
“Kill the messenger. That’s what you got here,” Burnett said. “The defendant didn’t like what he heard so he blamed his attorney.”
“There are tons of evidence in this case. That’s why he took a plea,” Burnett said.
Graves earlier took the stand to claim he thought Shaw’s lack of confidence in him as a defense attorney stemmed from the belief he was working with prosecutors from the same district attorney’s office where he used to work.
“His concern was I was working for the DA’s office,” he said.
Graves said this comment from Shaw came when the two had a discussion last month after the defendant made a formal request to withdraw his plea while also getting a new court-appointed attorney.
“At the time he requested another attorney I spoke with Mr. Shaw and he expressed his concerns with me. I told him those concerns were unfounded,” Graves said.
“I explained to him his options. I told him he could hire an attorney, that he keep a court-appointed attorney but it would have to be me and the third option as for him to represent himself,” Graves said.
At that time Shaw stuck with Graves but later pushed to have him replaced.
Shaw also claimed to submit the new plea on the belief his mother had made that request. He claimed Graves led him to believe something that was false.
It was a claim Graves adamantly denied as he spoke from the witness stand.
“I didn’t tell him that his mother wanted him to plead guilty,” Graves said. “I believe Mr. Shaw thought I was leading him in the wrong direction or force him to do something he didn’t want to do.”
With the judge’s ruling now in the books, a hearing will be scheduled for Shaw’s sentencing, which could result in him receiving a prison term of 20 years to life.
It was also pointed out a previous deal offered by Burnett but turned down by Shaw would have resulted in him getting a 10-year prison term.
