Judge Denies Withdrawal Of Guilty Plea In Aurora Woman's Murder
ST. CHARLES, Ill. (CBS) -- A teenage murderer is headed back to jail after a judge refused to withdraw his guilty plea.
As WBBM Newsradio's Bob Roberts reports, Gareng Deng, now 20, had sought to withdraw his plea in the murder of substance abuse counselor Marilyn Bethell, 47, of Aurora in October 2005.
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The right to withdraw a plea is not automatic. It was up to Kane County Judge Allen Anderson to decide if counsel was ineffective, if there was evidence that someone else was responsible, or if Deng could not understand the plea, which he issued when he was 17.
None of these was the case, said Kane County Assistant State's Attorney Jody Gleason.
"He was represented, had been represented by private counsel for two years, and the judge spent a lot of time going through with his plea for him that day to make sure that he really understood what it was that he was doing," she said.
Assistant Public Defender Thomas McCulloch said he would appeal the ruling.
Meanwhile, Bethell friend Deborah Eastman said she was pleased about the ruling and relieved.
