Judge Althea E. Drysdale

Robertson moved for vacatur of his guilty plea to DWI. He was observed by police to be behind the wheel of a car involved in an accident, and appeared intoxicated when approached by the officer. Robertson was offered a plea with a conditional discharge, and he accepted. His current attorney argued Robertson's attorney at the plea and sentence provided ineffective assistance of counsel as Robertson was unaware he was pleading guilty to a misdemeanor and unaware of the severity of a conviction or that a second arrest would result in a felony charge—which he was now facing. The court found Robertson provided no evidence to substantiate his claims of counsel's deficient performance, noting the motion may be denied on this reason alone. Also, Robertson failed the second prong of the ineffective assistance test requiring him to show his lawyer's alleged misadvice prejudiced him, noting his self-serving assertion of innocence was contradicted by his plea. The record was clear Robertson authorized his attorney to enter a plea to DWI and that he wished to enter such plea. It found nothing credibly discounting the legal and factual significance of Robertson's plea, rejecting his claim of prejudice and finding he failed to adequately allege ineffectiveness. Vacatur was denied.