Man can appeal child sexual abuse conviction, high court rules

By lindsay whitehurst

| The Salt Lake Tribune

First Published Dec 07 2012 10:51 pm • Last Updated Dec 08 2012 11:26 pm

A new U.S. Supreme Court decision allows a convicted child molester to appeal his sentence, the Utah Supreme Court ruled Friday.

Shannon Glen Winward can argue his attorney didn’t adequately explain a proposed plea deal offer to him, according to the opinion. The ruling allows him to file a motion to vacate or amend his sentence.

Winward, 47, was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for sexually abusing three boys in his Kearns home in 1993. He was convicted on four counts of child sodomy and one count of sexual abuse of a child after an earlier trial ended in a deadlocked jury in 1994.

The state high court made Friday’s decision on the basis of a new U.S. Supreme Court opinion giving defendants the right effective assistance of counsel during plea-bargaining, not just during a trial, according to Friday’s opinion.

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

About Reader Comments

---

Reader comments on sltrib.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Salt Lake Tribune. We will delete comments containing obscenities, personal attacks and inappropriate or offensive remarks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. If you see an objectionable comment, please alert us by clicking the arrow on the upper right side of the comment and selecting "Flag comment as inappropriate". If you've recently registered with Disqus or aren't seeing your comments immediately, you may need to verify your email address. To do so, visit disqus.com/account.
See more about comments here.