Tulsa Teen Asks To Withdraw Guilty Plea 'I Didn't Understand'

Deonte Green admitted killing a Broken Arrow teacher and raping an 81-year-old woman now wants to take back his guilty plea.

Tuesday, March 26th 2019, 5:41 pm

By: News On 6, Lori Fullbright

Tulsa Teen Asks To Withdraw Guilty Plea 'I Didn't Understand'

A teenager who admitted killing a Broken Arrow teacher and raping an 81-year-old woman now wants to take back his guilty plea.

Deonte Green pleaded guilty on March 13th but, now says he didn't understand some of the proceedings.

Tulsa Teen Asks To Withdraw Guilty Plea In Death Of Teacher

Shane Anderson's widow said she was relieved when Deonte Green pleaded guilty and was ready to put the legal part of this case behind her because she and her children are still struggling to get their lives on track after Shane's murder. When she heard Green now wants to take back his plea, she said, it just adds one more thing to the emotional roller coaster she's been on for the past 17 months.

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When Green pleaded guilty to Shane's murder, the rape plus a string of robberies and home invasions, the judge asked him a long list of questions, to make sure he not only understood the charges, but, understood his constitutional rights plus, he had to give details of the crimes.

"Mr. Green pleaded guilty to 22 separate counts so the judge would've gone through every single count in detail. We don't want somebody to come in and say I did it unless they can spell out exactly what they did," said Tulsa County DA Steve Kunzweiler.

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Now, Green says he wants to change his plea based on four factors:

First, he says, "I feel like I didn't understand." He said he didn't know what 85 percent meant, that he would have to serve 85 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole. Also, he said he did not know what the word guilty meant and finally, he says he pled because "my attorney encouraged me to plead."

"My heart goes out to the victims' families. I'd like to get some peace in their lives. I'd like to get this behind them," said Kunzweiler.

A judge will hold a hearing and determine whether to let Green take back his plea or make him stick with it.

Lori Fullbright

Lori Fullbright anchors the 5, 6 and 10 p.m. news each night with Craig Day. She has been the station's crime reporter for 31 years and has covered countless crime scenes and interviewed thousands of crime victims as well as hundreds of criminals and law enforcement officers.

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