Judge To Decide Whether A Rogers County Mother Can Withdraw Her Guilty Plea

A judge will decide in April whether a Rogers County woman can withdraw her guilty plea.

Dorothea Butanda is the mother of two men now in prison for a drunk driving hit and run crash.

Butanda plead guilty in January to being an accessory in the crime, but then said she didn't understand everything and asked to withdraw her plea.

2/14/2018 Related Story:  Rogers County DA Responds To Mother's Request To Withdraw Guilty Plea

Butanda says her attorney advised her to enter a guilty plea, and told her that she would most likely be given probation for her crime.

The day she pleaded, she says her attorney said she might actually face 20 years, or even life, in prison.

Butanda says she also believes she didn't commit every crime that she's charged with, even though she swore in front of the judge that she was guilty on every count.

Butanda says her attorney didn't fully explain everything to her and told her she would have the chance to tell the judge her side before her sentence was decided.

Her attorney testified in court Wednesday, saying they'd discussed pleading guilty many times.  However, the attorney did admit that he hadn't looked through all of the evidence in her case before advising her to enter a guilty plea.

Prosecutors argued against her withdrawing her plea, saying she's had plenty of time to understand the process.