New information provided to Judge John Atkins has led to him allowing Deqavion James to withdraw his guilty plea entered for his alleged role in the July, 2016 shooting death of De’Andre Palmer in Oak Grove.
Judge Atkins said during what would have been James’ sentencing hearing Wednesday morning that the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office recently explained to him that there could be some evidence that James accepted a deal with good reason to believe he’d become eligible for parole at an earlier date than would have actually been true.
The plea deal James took came with a recommended 30-year sentence, and James would have had to serve at least 20 years before becoming eligible for parole. He had originally been charged with first-degree murder, but pled guilty to manslaughter, robbery and tampering with evidence.
His co-defendant, Leonardo Miller of Oak Grove, pled guilty last month to murder, robbery, theft and tampering with evidence as part of a deal that comes with a recommended 40 year sentence.