Mother blocked from reversing child abuse plea

Herald-Sun, The (Durham, NC)

Author: JOHN STEVENSON The Herald-Sun

Claiming the Durham public defender's office misled her, a mother attempted unsuccessfully Tuesday to erase her recent guilty plea on charges of abusing her daughter so severely that the child is permanently disabled.

The case against Melinda Ann Wilkins, 32, of 1700-A Gunter St., was described earlier by Superior Court Judge Orlando F. Hudson as ``probably the worst child abuse case I've seen where the child did not die.''

When Wilkins' 19-month-old daughter was taken to Duke Hospital in August 1995, she was unconscious, had a blood clot on the brain, retinal hemorrhaging, a fractured skull and a fractured back. The child still is blind, deaf and unable to walk, talk or feed herself.

Still, Wilkins told Hudson on Tuesday that she was led to believe she would be sentenced to no more than six months in jail for the felonious child abuse charge.

But when she actually was sentenced Nov. 13, Hudson gave her between 31 and 47 months.

Consequently, Wilkins and lawyer Thomas Loflin argued Tuesday that the guilty plea should be set aside on grounds that Wilkins received ``ineffective assistance'' from her original attorney -- Assistant Public Defender Greg Hughes.

Furthermore, because Wilkins did not know the possible consequences of her plea, she did not enter it ``knowingly,'' she and Loflin contended.

``Ms. Wilkins is clearly an unsophisticated person,'' Loflin insisted. ``She clearly did not understand what was being communicated to her. What that boils down to is, her plea was not knowing and intelligent. She didn't know what she was doing. ... She is not a legal or constitutional scholar.''

Hudson did not buy the argument.

``I think she did exactly the right thing,'' Hudson said. ``I think absolutely she made the right decision. But did it come out the way she wanted it to? Absolutely not.''

Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Armstrong used much the same language in opposing Wilkins' attempt to get her guilty plea erased.

``This defendant took a gamble and lost,'' Armstrong said.

``Her plea was voluntary,'' the prosecutor added. ``She can read and write. ... She was completely sober, sane and knew her own mind the day she entered that plea. If she had gotten mercy from the court, of course we wouldn't be here today. ... She didn't get mercy. But that doesn't mean she didn't know what she was doing.''

During the hearing Tuesday, Hughes and his boss -- chief Public Defender Robert Brown -- had the unusual experience of being called as sworn witnesses. Both said they advised Wilkins that her chances for mercy probably were better if she pleaded guilty than if she held out for a jury trial.