Motion to withdraw a guilty plea; MCR 6.310; Effect of defendant’s misconduct after accepting the plea; MCR 6.310(B)(3); Whether the trial court’s deviation from the Cobbs agreement entitled to defendant to withdraw his plea; People v Cobbs; Contempt of court; People v Mysliwiec

The court held that defendant was not entitled to withdraw his plea. He was previously convicted of CSC III for sexually assaulting the minor victim. The victim’s mother and grandmother then obtained PPOs against him. Despite this, he called both the grandmother and the mother from prison, sent them letters from prison, and had third parties contact the victim via Facebook in an effort to obtain her phone number. He was subsequently charged with and pled guilty to aggravated stalking. At the sentencing hearing, the trial court held defendant in contempt for his behavior toward the victim and her family. On appeal, the court rejected his argument that the trial court abused its discretion by denying his request to withdraw his plea after determining that it was not going to abide by the Cobbs agreement. “[D]efendant’s conduct during sentencing, particularly during the victim-impact statement and allocution, was disruptive, disrespectful, and threatening. The trial court made several demands for defendant to stop talking during the victim-impact statement and to stop interrupting the trial court.” However, he repeatedly ignored these demands and his “behavior escalated from distasteful remarks and interruptions to offensive and confrontational gestures toward the victim and the victim’s family that required intervention by officers of the court.” Defendant claimed that “because the trial court informed him that it would not be following the Cobbs agreement, he was entitled to withdraw his plea. But MCR 6.310(B)(3) makes it clear that a defendant may not withdraw the plea if the defendant ‘fail[s] to comply with an order of the court pending sentencing.’ Defendant repeatedly and willfully defied several directives of the court during the sentencing hearing.” This misconduct “resulted in him violating the court’s orders and being held in contempt of court. His willful and defiant conduct constituted misconduct under MCR 6.310(B)(3). The trial court’s conclusion that defendant’s actions nullified the Cobbs agreement was proper and not error. The court’s conclusion that this misbehavior resulted in the waiver of his right to withdraw his plea was also appropriate.” Affirmed.