In a span of 12 days, Marcus Hall went from pleading guilty to two robbery counts to saying he didn’t understand the consequences of doing so.
Hall, 21, of Joliet, was charged in September with holding up two men at gunpoint and stealing $3,300 in cash, jewelry and other items outside of a party at a rental hall near Lake Street and Illinois Avenue in Aurora. The robbery occurred a short time before an altercation broke out across the street from the hall that culminated in the shooting death of 23-year-old Derrick Page.
Authorities have said Hall has no connection to Page’s death, but Aurora police ticketed Hall and Marquitte West — the Aurora man charged in Page’s death — for illegal contact with street gang members after the pair were found together in a car about 10 minutes after the shooting.
Hall was indicted late last year on four armed robbery counts and pleaded not guilty at his December arraignment. Then, on Jan. 28, Hall pleaded guilty to one count of armed robbery and an amended count of aggravated robbery. On the latter charge, Hall was sentenced to five years in prison, while his punishment on the more serious class X armed robbery charge was to be determined at a sentencing hearing, records show.
On Tuesday, Hall’s public defender filed a motion to withdraw the guilty pleas on grounds that Hall “did not fully understand the consequences of the plea” at the time and did not “knowingly, freely and voluntarily” agree to take the offer from prosecutors, court records state.
“Because of the defendant’s limited understanding at the time of the plea, this court should allow (Hall) to withdraw his plea of guilty,” the motion states.
Judges, as part of the process of accepting a guilty plea, ask defendants a series of questions to confirm their awareness of what they are doing and to ensure they are making the decision on their own. Defendants maintain the right to file a motion to withdraw a guilty plea within 30 days of it being entered by the judge.
No date has been scheduled for the motion to be considered.
West returns to court March 3.
Dan Campana is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
