McGuyton v. State

The trial court properly denied the appellant's motion to withdraw his guilty pleas to multiple charges, as the record contained strong evidence of actual guilt and the appellant entered his pleas voluntarily, knowingly and understandingly of the rights he was waiving.

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Appellant James Etheridge McGuyton, Jr., faced multiple charges, including murder, relating to the November 22, 2012, shooting death of Kenneth Seek, Jr. As a result of the State’s filing of a recidivist notice, appellant was facing a mandatory sentence of life without parole if convicted. On the eve of trial, appellant entered negotiated guilty pleas, pursuant to Alford1 , to the separately indicted charges of murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole.

According to the proffer of evidence presented at the guilty plea hearing, appellant was angry with Seek for dating appellant’s former girlfriend. He told his mother he was going to kill Seek. On the evening of November 21, 2012, appellant commenced telephoning and texting Seek to arrange a meeting on a remote rural road in McDuffie County. Appellant, accompanied by his co-indictee Rondoe Hutson, went to the arranged location and, when Seek did not arrive, appellant and Hutson returned to Hutson’s house to arm themselves. Appellant told Hutson he was going to talk to Seek and if things got heated he was going to shoot him. In the early morning hours of November 22, appellant and Hutson met Seek and Donnie Joe Wilson, a friend who accompanied Seek, at the agreed-upon meeting place. Seek and Wilson were unarmed. According to a recorded statement appellant gave to investigators, he and Seek spoke briefly and then appellant took out his .45 derringer and shot Seek with a .410 slug just below the chest. Appellant shouted out for Hutson to get Wilson. When Wilson ran into the woods, Hutson retrieved a 12-gauge shotgun out of his vehicle and started pursuing the man. Appellant then removed the spent cartridge from his pistol, loaded it with a new cartridge, and shot Seek, who was still alive, at close range in the back of his head.

McGuyton v. State

The trial court properly denied the appellant's motion to withdraw his guilty pleas to multiple charges, as the record contained strong evidence of actual guilt and the appellant entered his pleas voluntarily, knowingly and understandingly of the rights he was waiving.

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