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State v. Merrill6/10/2005
enges to the Utah Wrongful Life Act. Id. at 1. That Act bars actions "based on a claim that but for the act or omission of another, a person would not have been permitted to have been born alive, but would have been aborted." Utah Code Ann. ยง 78-11-24 (2002). The Act created a class of persons whose reproductive choices were misdirected by the alleged negligence of others but who had no remedy for the negligent conduct. In concluding that the statute was constitutional despite its targeting of one class of persons, we wrote that "we see no reason why persons who would make a particular choice . . . should, for constitutional purposes, be recognized as a class and treated any differently from those who would choose otherwise." Id. at 35. We now apply this same reasoning to Mr. Merrill's case: where a defendant chooses to subject himself to the requirements of the PCRA by failing to file a motion to withdraw within thirty days, the consequences of that choice, to the extent it results in consigning a defendant to a class, is not unconstitutionally arbitrary or unreasonable.
As he has done with all of his arguments to overturn the thirty-day time limit, Mr. Merrill invokes Julian v. State, 966 P.2d 249 (Utah 1998), to bolster his article I, section 24 argument. We agree that there are some factual similarities between this case and Julian. The statutory time limit on applications for habeas corpus relief that we addressed in Julian, like the time limit in section 77-13-6, applied equally to all criminal defendants. Further, both statutes created a subclass of defendants composed of persons who might otherwise have been eligible for a certain form of relief but were foreclosed from pursuing it because the allotted statutory time limit had elapsed.
The outcome of Julian, however, did not turn on the uniform operation of laws provision of article I, section 24. Rather, we grounded our holding in the separation of powers and open courts provisions, article V, section 1, and article I, section 11, respectively, of the Utah Constitution. Id. at 253. The applicability of these constitutional provisions to legislative efforts to reign in access to habeas corpus relief underscores the dissimilarities between the "great writ" and the opportunity to withdraw a guilty plea. As we noted supra, the writ of habeas corpus enjoys constitutional protection, whereas the right to withdraw a guilty plea does not. 25. We do not by this comparison seek to shrivel the statutorily-guaranteed right to seek withdrawal of a guilty plea into insignificance. We do intend to make clear our view that Mr. Merrill's attempt to construct his entire multifaceted challenge to section 77-13-6 on Julian packs little persuasive punch.
Even if section 77-13-6 were to create a classification worthy of constitutional recognition, the classification is based on differences that have a reasonable tendency to further the objective of the statute. Malan, 693 P.2d at 670. Section 77-13-6's statement that those defendants who do not challenge their guilty pleas within the thirty-day limit are subject to the PCRA is clearly intended to protect the State from difficulties associated with prosecuting state claims and generally preserves the judiciary's interest in the finality of judgments. However, Mr. Merrill argues that these objectives cannot justify limiting a defendant's relief to that provided by the PCRA. He complains that the PCRA imposes two substantial handicaps on his quest for relief: a requirement that he pursue all appellate remedies before seeking post-conviction relief and the denial of the right to counsel.
The right to seek withdrawal of a guilty plea is granted by statute. It is a right witho
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