CR man claims he was forced to take a guilty plea

CEDAR RAPIDS – A 25-year-old Cedar Rapids man who pleaded guilty in January to throwing a molotov cocktail through an apartment window claimed Tuesday he was coerced into the plea by his attorney and wants to go to trial.

Matthew Shepherd, originally charged with first-degree arson, is accused of throwing a molotov cocktail – gasoline bomb – into an apartment that was occupied March 13, 2010, according to a criminal complaint.

He pleaded guilty in January to second-degree arson but then asked his attorney a few days after the hearing to file an arrest of judgment on the grounds that it was granted in error. Shepherd said he's innocent and didn't want to take the plea deal.

Shepherd testified Tuesday in Linn County District Court that his attorney, Nekeidra Tucker, told him to take the plea several times during visits at the jail and on the phone. He said she even brought along another public defender with her to talk him into it a few days before the trial date.

“I felt like I didn't have a choice and had to take it,” Shepherd said. “She told me if we went to trial we wouldn't win, so I didn't have any confidence in her and I didn't know if she was prepared. She didn't want to call any of the witnesses. She felt it would be damaging to the case.”

Shepherd said he felt coerced into taking the plea and had no other option.

Linn County Attorney Jerry Vander Sanden asked Shepherd didn't Tucker talk to him before the plea and didn't she tell him it was his decision?

Shepherd admitted she did.

“Isn't this just regret?” Vander Sanden said.

“No. It wasn't regret. I felt pressured into it,” Shepherd said.

Tucker testified it was her obligation to tell Shepherd about the plea agreement Vander Sanden offered and it was her duty to tell him about their chances of acquittal. She told him more than once it was his decision.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Sean McPartland said he would provide a written ruling next month. He gave the attorneys until April 1, to file any briefs.