An attorney for Jeena Roberts, 26, filed a motion for a new trial on July 10. An appeals court had, just days before that, ruled that Roberts could request a new trial despite having pleaded guilty to intoxication manslaughter for the 2011 drunk driving death of Linda Smaltz, 54.
Roberts was age 21 at the time. According to official records she had been drinking while she was on a field trip with her Texas Tech engineering class.
Her guilty plea carried a 15-year sentence which she is currently serving.
She wants to take back her guilty plea on the claim that her previous attorney would not let her testify. It’s a claim her previous attorney disputes. Her July 10 motion said her guilty plea was not knowing, intelligent, or voluntary.
For that reason she claims her guilty plea is unconstitutional.
If her request for a new trial is granted she could be resentenced to a period of prison time between two and 20 years in prison.
