He got 15 years for beating Houma man with tire iron. Now he wants to rescind guilty plea.
A 31-year-old Alexandria man who pleaded guilty to beating a Houma man with a tire iron in 2018 is seeking to withdraw that plea.
Eddie Bonier Jr. was charged in 2018 with home invasion and aggravated second-degree battery after police said he entered a home on Waverly Way in Houma and beat a man with a tire iron.
Though Bonier pleaded guilty to the charges on July 2, 2019, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison, he has since filed motions to withdraw his pleas.
More: Man accused of beating victim with tire iron
Bonier was arrested on the scene without incident and was taken to the Terrebonne Parish jail, where he was held on a $150,000 bail.
The victim was treated and released from Terrebonne General Medical Center.
Bonier’s attorney filed a request Jan. 15, 2020, to withdraw his client’s guilty plea. Prosecutors objected to the motion due to its untimeliness.
Following a series of hearings, the trial court denied Bonier's motion withdraw his guilty plea but granted his request to appeal to a higher court. He appealed to the 1st Circuit Court in Baton Rouge, which is currently reviewing the case.
According to court papers, Bonier argues his guilty plea was not “knowing and voluntary” because of his mental status. He said he was suffering from “significant mental illness, hallucinations and post-traumatic stress disorder” and did not have the mental capacity to plead guilty.
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Bonier also contends his trial attorneys provided ineffective counsel because they did not take his mental capacity into account.
Assistant District Attorney Ellen Doskey, who handles appeals for the Terrebonne District Attorney’s Office, argued that doctors evaluated Bonier and found he was competent to assist in his defense.
“Dr. (Joshua) Sanderson rendered a 10-page report after evaluating Bonier,” Doskey said in court papers. “He reviewed records from Seaside Hospital in Baton Rouge and the medical records from Bonier’s various admissions to the VA facility in Alexandria. Dr. Sanderson noted that Bonier was oriented to time and place at the time of the exam. He was articulate and reported his mood as ‘fine.’ There was no evidence of delusions, hallucinations or paranoia. Dr. Sanderson conducted various cognitive tests which confirmed his observations.”
Bonier was able to understand the difference between guilty, not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity, Doskey said.
“He was able to describe the events of the incident from which these charges arose,” she said. “Thus, he was capable of assisting in his defense. Based on his interview with Bonier, his review of his past mental health treatments and the cognitive testing, Dr. Sanderson also concluded that Bonier had the ability to determine right from wrong at the time of the incident.”
The appeals court will render a decision in the coming weeks.
Bonier is incarcerated in the Dixon Correctional Institute in Jackson.
— Staff Writer Dan Copp can be reached at 448-7639 or at dan.copp@houmatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanVCopp.
This article originally appeared on The Courier: Man seeks to revoke guilty plea that got him 15 years in Houma beating
