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Cotten v. State

The trial court did not err in vacating defendant's nolo plea to marijuana possession after defendant tested positive for marijuana metabolites shortly after entering the plea.

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Matthew Lee Cotten appeals from the trial court’s order denying his plea in bar on former jeopardy grounds.1 For the following reasons, we affirm.

On August 8, 2000, Cotten entered a nolo contendere plea to misdemeanor possession of marijuana. During the plea colloquy, the court asked Cotten if he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol and Cotten replied that he was not. The court accepted the plea and sentenced Cotten to 12 months probation. Within a few hours of the plea, a probation officer tested Cotten’s urine for the presence of drugs. The probation officer told the judge that Cotten’s urine was “very” positive for marijuana metabolites, suggesting Cotten’s recent use of the drug. On the same day he took the plea, the judge summoned Cotten back to court. The judge set aside the conviction, expressing doubts about the voluntariness of Cotten’s plea: “Where circumstances suggest to the Court that the person might be under the influence of anything, then it is certainly in the court’s discretion and I think it is incumbent upon the court not to allow such a proceeding to take place.” There is no evidence in the record that the court prohibited Cotten from reentering a plea at a later date.

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