Safe Havens

To document the safe-haven disposition, counsel should obtain a certified copy of the charge to which a plea was entered.  If there were several successive charging papers filed, such as amended complaints or superseding indictments, counsel should obtain a certified copy of the final version of the count to which the plea was actually entered.

            Sometimes, the plea will be entered to a specific count, say Count III, as amended on its face orally during the plea proceedings.  This occurs especially when a lesser included offense is the offense of conviction.  The court may make the amendment in ink by writing on the face of the charging document in the court file “by interlineation.”    In this case, a certified copy of the final typed charge that contains the judge’s writing of the amended charge may be necessary to establish the final version of the charge to which a plea was entered.  The reporter’s transcript of the entry of the plea may be the best evidence.  See § 6.45, infra.