McAllister says lawyers pressured him into plea deal

Former state Sen. Norman McAllister says he was pressured by his lawyers into agreeing to a plea deal late in the day on the eve of his second trial, according to a motion filed to withdraw that plea.

McAllister, through a new lawyer, Bob Katims, filed a request Monday to pull a plea he had made to settle a sex-crimes case and avoid trial several weeks ago. Katims said he will replace Brooks McArthur, who represented McAllister since the beginning of the case and helped broker the no-contest plea Jan 10.

McArthur declined to comment on McAllister's decision to withdraw his plea.

McAllister's motion states that the former legislator took the plea deal at the end a long day of jury selection. The change-of-plea hearing took place after regular court hours.

"Defendant wishes to withdraw his plea because he is innocent of the offenses to which he plead no contest and was pressured by his attorneys at the time to plead no contest," the motion states.

An attempt to reach McAllister, 65, of Highgate Center was unsuccessful Monday.

McArthur said he and his co-counsel, David Williams, are filing a motion to withdraw from the case.

"I'm glad we were able to get his first case dismissed at trial, and I wish him well in the future," McArthur said Monday.

Franklin County Deputy State's Attorney John Lavoie said the state opposes McAllister's motion. The state later Monday filed its opposition motion, which stated McAllister had "failed to provide a fair and just reason to withdraw his plea."

Lavoie wrote that the two sides had spent time leading up to trial attempting to come to an agreement, with the final offer accepted at the end of jury selection. The prosecutor said allowing McAllister to withdraw his plea would harm proceedings that would follow.

"The parties went through an entire day of jury selection," Lavoie wrote. "No other juries could be selected on that day. The entire jury panel, a larger one than normal because of the nature of this case and pretrial publicity, can no longer be used."

The victim, Lavoie added, "who was previously prepared to go to trial, will suffer the additional emotional upset of preparing for trial again." Also, additional publicity from McAllister's change of plea "will make future jury selection even more difficult," Lavoie wrote.

"It appears the defendant seeks only to delay trial," Lavoie added. He asked that the court set the matter for a hearing.

McAllister originally pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual assault without consent and three counts of prohibited acts. If convicted, he faced up to life in prison.

The charges in the second trial alleged that McAllister sought sex instead of rent payments from two women. The Burlington Free Press does not identify people who say they were victims of sex crimes unless they agree to be named.

McAllister pleaded no contest Jan. 10 to a reduced charge of lewd and lascivious conduct and two counts of prohibited acts. By pleading no contest, McAllister neither admitted nor disputed the charges but acknowledged there was the potential for conviction if the case went to trial.

He faced up to seven years in prison under the deal and would be required to register as a sex offender.

The next day, McAllister told television station NBC-5 that he was considering withdrawing his plea and firing his lawyer.

It will be up to a judge to decide whether McAllister can withdraw his plea.

The first trial ended in dismissal midway through the proceedings when the woman accusing McAllister admitted she lied under oath when asked about her relationship with another McAllister employee. The woman maintains the sexual assaults happened despite how the trial ended, her lawyer has said.

McAllister was arrested outside the Statehouse in May 2015. The former Republican senator was suspended from the Senate last year, and he lost in the primary for re-election.

McAllister remains free on bail.

McAllister motion to withdraw plea

State's opposition to McAllister's plea withdrawal motion

Contact Elizabeth Murray at 651-4835 or emurray@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LizMurraySMC.

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