The Kansas Supreme Court today upheld a first-degree murder conviction from Wyandotte County District Court.
Tarlene A. Williams pleaded no contest in 2008 to first-degree murder in exchange for the dismissal of one count of attempted murder and one count of aggravated arson, according to court documents.
Williams had been charged with first-degree murder in connection with a fatal arson in 2007 near 9th and Quindaro.
Williams filed a motion to withdraw her plea before sentencing, alleging the plea agreement was not in her best interest. That motion was denied, and Williams appealed. The Kansas Supreme Court previously ruled that Williams did not show good cause for granting her presentence motion, court documents stated.
She later filed four motions attacking her conviction, and the motions were denied. Next she filed two postsentence motions to withdraw her plea, which also were denied.
Today the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that a motion to withdraw a plea must be brought within one year of the final order of the last appellate court in Kansas to exercise jurisdiction on a direct appeal or the termination of the appellate jurisdiction; or the denial of a petition for a writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court or issuance of that court’s final order following the grant of the petition.
Time limitations can be extended upon an additional affirmative showing of excusable neglect by the defendant, according to the Kansas Supreme Court ruling.
In this case, the Kansas Supreme Court said it affirms the district court because there was no showing of excusable neglect and because the motion was successive.