A judge withdrew all pleas entered by a Missouri woman accused of locking her malnourished daughter in a closet on Monday, ABC News reported.
In January, Jacole Prince entered Alford pleas to felony child abuse and assault charges and pleaded guilty to child endangerment in the abuse of her daughter.
When defendants enter Alford pleas, they are maintaining their innocence but understand that a jury might find them guilty.
Jackson County Circuit Judge John Torrence withdrew the Prince's pleas earlier this week, adding that she contacted him and the Kansas City Star last month, claiming her public defender, Curtis Winegarner, forced her to accept the plea deal.
"The Court finds and concludes that defendant Prince misled the Court when answering questions about the voluntariness of her guilty pleas on January 7, 2014 and that, in fact, she did not knowingly intend to enter pleas of guilty on such date," Torrence wrote in his order.
Torrence, who was set to sentence her in late April, said he had received a postcard from her on Jan. 17.
"Among other claims, defendant Prince wrote that she 'didn't except (sic) the plea because I did not want to take the plea,' " Torrence wrote. "The note also states that 'Mr. Curtis Winegarner had threaten me to except (sic) that plea.' "
The judge said the case will be put back on the court docket for a jury trial.
In June 2012, her daughter was rescued in their apartment by a police officer and social worker. At the time, she was 10 years old and weighed just 32 pounds, in addition to being surrounded by her own waste.
