Superior Court - COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. BLAKE TENNISON

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. BLAKE TENNISON No. 1529 ED 2005 2009 PA Super 51 Atlantic: 969 A.2d 572 Filed: 3/25/2009
	Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence May 10, 2005 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Criminal at No(s): 0401-0083
Before: STEVENS, McCAFFERY, and KELLY, JJ.
Opinion by: STEVENS, J.
This is an appeal from the judgment of sentence entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County after the Court denied Appellant’s pre-sentence motion to withdraw his guilty plea. At issue is whether a defendant provides a “fair and just reason” to withdraw his plea prior to sentencing whenever he asserts his innocence. We hold such an assertion does not divest a judge of discretion to weigh its sincerity according to the totality of circumstances known to the judge, and to deny the motion where, as here, the motion is founded not upon a sincere assertion, but upon a desire to delay sentencing in one case in order to obtain a favorable sentence in another.

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