Conyers files appeal to withdraw guilty plea

Former state Rep. Mary Waters may be just getting started on trying to withdraw her guilty plea for bribery and corruption charges, but former Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers is much further along in that process, asking a federal appeals court to overturn a district court judge’s decision rejecting her attempt to withdraw the guilty plea.

In his brief, [Conyers' attorney Douglas] Mullkoff also criticized the government for — in an effort to deny Conyers an appeal bond — arguing that “the flimsy reason she gave for wanting to withdraw her plea, alone, strongly supports the court’s decision to deny her motion.”

Mullkoff countered: “The so-called “flimsy reason,” of course, was not flimsy at all. It was a claim of actual innocence: ‘I just don’t feel that I should go to jail for something that I didn’t do,’ ” he wrote in court documents.

It would be highly unusual for the appeals court to overturn such a ruling. While pleading guilty, Conyers affirmed in court several times that she was agreeing to the guilty plea without reservation or coercion — and this after spending months negotiating the terms of the plea bargain. After that point, asserting one’s innocence is rarely successful.