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Fineza v. State

There was sufficient evidence to support the trial court's finding that defendant's Alford plea was made voluntarily and knowingly.

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Craig Fineza was indicted for aggravated assault, aggravated battery, false imprisonment, and three counts of possessing a knife while committing a felony. He subsequently pled guilty to aggravated battery, into which the aggravated assault charge merged, and the State nolle prossed the remaining charges. The trial court granted Fineza’s motion for an out-of-time appeal, and he now contends that his guilty plea was invalid because he did not understand the impact of pleading guilty under North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25 91 SC 160, 27 LE2d 162 1970 a defendant may plead guilty but not admit committing the crime. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

1. Initially, the State contends that the trial court erred in granting Fineza’s motion for an out-of-time appeal, arguing that the evidence presented at a hearing on the motion showed that the failure to file a direct appeal within 30 days lay with Fineza, not with his trial counsel.

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