Frost requests to withdraw plea

A former Kinston police chief and Newton police officer Harold Frost appeared in Circuit Judge Jeff Kelley's courtroom Dec. 20, with a request to withdraw his guilty plea.

Through newly appointed attorney Brandon Coots, Frost requested that he be able to withdraw his guilty plea on two counts of sexual abuse of a child under the age of 12.

Frost was initially arrested in 2007 for the alleged sexual abuse of two females ages eight and nine after an investigation by the Alabama Bureau of Investigation.

He was charged with two counts of first-degree sexual abuse, first-degree sodomy and first-degree rape.

The charge of rape was dropped in 2008 during plea negotiations and Frost pleaded guilty to the lesser charges of sodomy and sexual abuse.

Frost was sentenced to life in prison for sodomy and 15 years in prison for each count of sexual abuse to run consecutively.

However, an appeals court overturned the conviction citing ineffective counsel.

A plea agreement was reached between Frost and prosecutors for Frost to serve 20 years in prison in exchange for Frost's guilty plea to sexual abuse of a child under the age of 12, and the sodomy charge would be dropped.

The agreement was reached just 24 hours after a jury was struck for Frost's trial in March.

Frost filed in April to withdraw the guilty plea, but Kelley denied the request due to Frost not having the benefit of counsel.

Kelley appointed Coots in November and scheduled a new hearing for Frost's request to withdraw his plea Dec. 20.

During the hearing, Frost's attorney said the plea was not given voluntarily and the decision was not informed. Coots went on to say Frost felt forced to take the plea, and he was also unhappy with the witnesses and jury, which was made up of nine women and three men.

Frost requested to withdraw the plea and reinstate the three charges, including sexual abuse of a child under 12 and sodomy.

Prosecutor Christ Kaminski advised that the plea change request be denied, saying when Frost was asked if he entered his plea willingly and knowledgably and if he was satisfied with his attorney, he replied yes.

"He never indicated he wasn't satisfied with his attorney and to come back and undo what's been done would basically be a misuse of judicial service," Kaminski said, adding to change the plea would be jerking around a family that has moved on with their lives.

Kelley asked Frost if he misrepresented to the court when he entered his guilty plea, to which Frost replied yes.

Kelley has not yet ruled on the request.