Sentencing delayed after Boone County murder suspect balks at deal
Jazsmin Halliburton
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Sentencing has been delayed for a Hartsburg man who pleaded guilty to killing his father in 2022.
Collin Knight, 25, appeared in Boone County court via Webex on Friday for a sentencing hearing. Knight had previously agreed to a plea deal that would see him serve life in prison for second-degree murder and 15 years for a parole violation.
Notes in the electronic court record state Knight told Judge Joshua Devine he “does not wish to be sentenced today.” Devine delayed the hearing at the defense’s request.
The stabbing death occurred in September 2022 in the 18000 block of South Old Route A in Ashland. According to court documents, Knight’s father died after being stabbed more than 15 times. Deputies found Knight in the garage of a neighboring home after he called dispatchers and allegedly admitted to the killing at the scene.
Former Cole County Prosecutor Bill Tackett said pulling back on a plea deal at this stage can complicate matters for both the court and the defense.
“The whole idea is to avoid a trial if possible and if during sentencing, they suddenly want to blow up the deal, they can do that,” Tackett said. “The problem they’ve got is then they have to go to trial.”
Tackett said that while withdrawing a guilty plea is not uncommon, stopping sentencing after a deal has been made is more rare.
“Defense counsel, cut the best deal possible, got the client to do the plea of guilty. Trying to undo the sentencing at the last minute is a defense attorney’s nightmare because now you’re going to blow the whole thing up,” he said. “You go back to zero and likely have to go to trial, which should be worse for the defendant.”
“Asking to withdraw a guilty plea is not that uncommon. Asking to stop the sentencing — that’s pretty uncommon,” Tackett said. “Because that’s the deal that got cut. And if you’re trying to change that after the guilty plea, the whole thing has to go away. You have to start all over again.”
Columbia attorney Dan Viets said the judge ultimately has discretion in whether to proceed with sentencing or accept the guilty plea.
“It’s not common, but it’s not unprecedented. It’s in the discretion of the judge whether that judge is going to allow the defendant to maintain his guilty plea or not,” Viets said. “If the judge thinks the defendant is equivocating, is not really admitting that he is guilty, then judges do often reject guilty pleas under those circumstances.”
A status hearing in Knight’s case is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Monday, Aug. 4.