Dec. 17--A judge rejected a Duluth man's attempt to withdraw his guilty plea in a July arson case and sentenced him to more than eight years in prison Monday.
Judge David Johnson said he couldn't find any convincing reason to allow 26-year-old Michael James Larson to back out of a plea agreement he reached with prosecutors in October.
"Based on the reasons you've given me, it sounds like you have a certain amount of buyer's remorse," Johnson told him. "I'm not seeing any reason to allow you to withdraw your plea."
Larson pleaded guilty to first-degree arson and two counts of stalking at an Oct. 30 hearing as part of a plea deal with prosecutors, who dropped additional charges of third- and fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct and domestic assault.
The case stems from a July 26 apartment fire, which investigators said Larson set because the woman he was living with wouldn't buy him liquor. Their shared apartment on the 700 block of Upham Road was considered a complete loss after a blaze that was reportedly started with accelerants.
The woman reported receiving several text messages from Larson threatening to burn the house down. She also reported having been sexually assaulted by him three days prior.
Per the terms of the plea agreement, Johnson sentenced Larson to 100 months in prison: 64 months for the arson charge and 18 months for each stalking charge, to be served consecutively. Larson will spend at least two-thirds of the sentence -- about 5 1/2 years -- in prison before he's eligible for parole.
Cynthia Evenson, Larson's public defender, told the judge that Larson contacted her late Friday wanting to withdraw his plea. Larson did most of the explaining to judge Monday.
"Your honor, I've been doing a lot of thinking, and when I took the plea, I felt like I was scared into it," he said. "I didn't realize the rights I was giving up."
Larson cited a number of reasons in asking for the change of plea. Among them, he said he didn't fully understand that at a trial, he would be able to call witnesses.
He also said he was under the impression that he could later change his plea. Larson claimed that he also did not have the entire case discovery at the time, and said he believes forensic evidence would benefit him at trial.
Johnson, at one point, observed that Larson seemed to be simply be reciting legal terms to make his case.
"It sounds to me like you're trying to throw out legal terms that you might've heard around jail," he said.
When a defendant enters a guilty plea, the judge typically asks a long list of questions to ensure that the defendant understands his or her rights and is not entering the plea under false pretenses. Defendants also sign a document waiving those rights.
Prosecutor Jessica Fralich argued against Larson's motion, saying it was clear that he was fully advised of his rights and simply wanted to better his deal. She noted that Larson already had two contested omnibus hearings and agreed in his plea to receive an above-guideline sentence.
"This is not a situation of a guy who didn't understand his rights," she said. "It's clear he feels he's getting a raw deal and wants less time."
Johnson told Larson he would need sufficient reason to believe that Evenson didn't fully advise him of his rights. If so, Johnson said he'd allow Larson to waive attorney-client privilege and put Evenson on the stand to testify about their discussions at a future hearing.
Fred Friedman, Northeastern Minnesota chief public defender, said that would create a tricky and expensive situation for his office. He'd have to hire a private attorney to come in and question one of his public defenders.
Friedman said it's uncommon for a defendant to attempt to withdraw a plea and extremely rare for a judge to agree.
"Sometimes, people just change their minds," he said. "While a defendant has a right to make the motion, the judge has the absolute right to say yes or no."
Johnson dismissed Larson's motion, ruling that he was fully advised of his rights at his plea hearing and in the waiver that he signed. He also cited a Dec. 8 letter Larson wrote to him that asked for a lesser sentence.
Copyright 2013 - Duluth News Tribune
