Whether a guilty plea waives claims that the trial court violated a defendant's autonomy-based rights

QUESTIONS PRESENTED The months leading up to Petitioner Jeremy Moody’s capital trial in March of 2018 centered on a dispute between counsel and Moody over the objective of his defense. As counsel explained to the trial court, Moody “want[ed] to contest guilt innocence in this case,” but counsel wanted to concede guilt, even though Moody “disagree[d] with” that decision. Vol. 41, T. 452. Determined to contest his guilt, Moody first attempted to discharge counsel and represent himself. After the trial court denied that request, counsel asked the trial court to decide whether the decision to concede guilt was “a strategy decision or is it one of those critical decisions that the Constitution mandates that the defendant make even if his lawyers disagree with it.” Vol. 25, T. 2733. Over Moody’s objection, the trial court ruled that counsel, not Moody, could determine the objective of his defense. Forced to go to trial with counsel who would concede his guilt, Moody suddenly reversed course and decided to plead guilty rather than watch counsel plead him guilty over his objection. While Moody’s post-trial motions were pending in the trial court, this Court decided McCoy v. Louisiana, 138 S. Ct. 1500 (2018), holding that a defendant has the right to control the objective of his defense. As the Court explained, the violation of the defendant’s “protected autonomy right was complete when the court allowed counsel to usurp control of an issue within [the defendant’s] sole prerogative.” Id. at 1511. On appeal, Moody argued that the trial court’s rulings violated Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (1975), and McCoy. Acknowledging a circuit split on the question of whether a guilty plea waives such claims, the Georgia Supreme Court concluded that Moody’s Faretta and McCoy claims were waived. This gives rise to the following questions: 1. Whether a guilty plea inherently waives claims that the trial court violated a defendant’s autonomy-based rights, such as the right to selfrepresentation and the right to control the objective of his defense? 2. Whether the trial court’s ruling that counsel could concede guilt over Moody’s objection violated this Court’s decision in McCoy v. Louisiana, 138 S. Ct. 1500 (2018), rendering Moody’s guilty plea involuntary? i