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The Winona County Attorney’s Office and the Public Defender’s Office petitioned the Minnesota Court of Appeals late last month to force Judge Jeff Thompson to reconsider an agreement entered by Nicholas Howard Greenwood of Rochester, Minn.
Greenwood is charged with 23 felonies, including attempted murder.
At an Oct. 22 plea hearing, Greenwood, 27, was prepared to plead guilty to three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of ineligible possession of a firearm. The plea agreement stipulated Green-wood would go to prison for between 60 and 108 months. Language in the agreement would have allowed either side to withdraw if the judge sentenced outside that range.
“I’m not taking pleas like this,” Thompson said at the time. He declined to hear any portion of the agreement after learning of the joint sentencing recommendation and ended the hearing.
Documents filed with the court Oct. 29 and signed by both Winona County Attorney Chuck MacLean and Chief Public Defender Karen Duncan say Thompson acted beyond his judicial authority in rejecting the agreement based solely on the sentencing recommendation and withdrawal language. A Writ of Prohibition asks the Court of Appeals to prevent Thompson from making such decisions on any similar cases in the future.
The documents further ask the Court of Appeals to force Thompson to “do his duty” and reconsider Greenwood’s plea agreement on its terms, ignoring the withdrawal portion. The Writ of Mandamus, as it is called, said Thompson failed to perform his duty and acted in a “capricious manner” in rejecting the plea without hearing its terms.
The petitions are currently being reviewed by the Court of Appeals, suspending Greenwood’s proceedings until a decision is made. An arbitrary appeal review date has been set for Greenwood on Jan. 5, 2009, to check on the appeals court’s progress, and an additional hearing has been set for March 1, 2009.
Greenwood’s jury trial on the attempted murder charges was scheduled to begin next week but has been canceled.
Greenwood is accused of saying racial epithets Aug. 6, 2005, to Hispanic residents of a St. Charles, Minn., home before brandishing a 12-guage shotgun and firing seven times into a lighted, second-level bedroom.
None of the residents were injured in the incident.
Kevin Behr may be reached at (507) 453-3524 or at kbehr@winonadailynews.com.
Mike wrote on Nov 13, 2008 9:47 PM:
This plea agreement said "deal's off" if the judge issues a longer or shorter sentence. "