Judge denies motion in Sunset meth case

By RICHARD JENKINS

[email protected]

Bessemer — Gogebic County Circuit Judge Michael Pope denied a motion Tuesday filed by John Raymond Davis’ appellate attorney to allow Davis to withdraw his guilty plea in the Sunset Road meth lab case.

Davis, 42, was sentenced to a minimum of 10 years in prison in July on charges of operating/maintaining a meth lab and conspiracy to maintain a meth lab.

The charges stemmed from the March discovery of an active meth lab in a Sunset Road apartment building Davis was renting.

Davis was represented by Anna Talaska during most of the case, including his sentencing hearing, but a new attorney was appointed during the appeals process.

Davis’ new attorney, Lansing-based John Ujlaky, filed a motion arguing Davis should be allowed to withdraw his plea on the grounds the written plea agreement indicated there wasn’t a sentence recommendation in the case but Gogebic County Prosecutor Nick Jacobs asked Pope to impose a sentence of 10 to 20 years.

Ujlaky’s motion argued Davis’ understanding of the plea agreement included the belief that if the “no” recommendation box on the agreement was checked, then Jacobs wouldn’t take a position on sentencing. The sentencing guidelines recommended a sentence of six to 10 years.

Jacobs told the Daily Globe his argument regarding the motion was that the lack of a sentencing recommendation in the agreement simply meant he wasn’t agreeing to a recommendation as part of the plea and he was free to provide a recommendation to Pope during sentencing.

If the agreement had included language on a sentence recommendation, Pope would have been bound to the recommendation if he followed the plea. Pope has the discretion to ignore any sentence recommendations included in a plea agreement, however, he must give the defendant a chance to withdraw his plea if he intends to not follow the agreement.

Pope ultimately agreed with Jacobs’ logic, ruling that if Jacobs was required to stay silent regarding a sentencing recommendation, the written plea agreement should explicitly say that.

“If it was the prosecution’s intent to not make any recommendation, (the plea agreement) would have said that. And it didn’t,” Jacobs told the Daily Globe, explaining Pope’s decision.

Pope also noted that the written plea didn’t include language regarding the sentences for both charges being served concurrently, however that agreement had been reached prior to sentencing.

Ujlaky said he does plan to seek a hearing before the Michigan Court of Appeals on his motion.

“We do plan on seeking leave to appeal in the court of appeals,” Ujlaky told the Daily Globe Wednesday. “Whether they grant leave to appeal or not remains to be seen.”