Sentencing of former 'Idol' star continued

Wednesday's sentencing of former "American Idol" contestant Corey Clark was continued after his attorney said he plans to file a motion for Clark to withdraw his guilty plea. The hearing began with attorney Richard Geller asking the judge to have the public removed from the courtroom. Saying it was a request he never made before, he told the judge the reason he was asking was because he thought the case was unique in many ways. He did not say in what ways.

Superior Court Judge Mark Wayne Reeves then asked both Geller and prosecutor Levi Gunderson to approach the bench, where they discussed the matter outside the hearing of the those in the courtroom.

After several minutes, the judge denied Geller's request and both he and Gunderson returned to their counsel tables.

Geller then asked to have the sentencing continued and a mitigation hearing be scheduled instead. He also said he planned to file a motion for his client to withdraw from his plea agreement, but did not give any reasons why his client wanted to do so.

"There were major discrepancies in the plea agreement that I wasn't made aware of until recently," Clark stated later in the hearing.

Clark, who is out of custody on bond, pleaded guilty to a felony aggravated harassment charge on Oct. 2, stemming from prohibited phone calls he allegedly placed to his father-in-law, a Yuma County resident, and an officer with the Yuma Police Department.

The plea agreement stipulates Clark be given a term of probation, although the charge he confessed to in a hearing in Superior Court earlier this month carries a presumptive

sentence of 1-1/2 years to as much as two years in prison and a $150,000 fine.

In exchange for the guilty plea, one felony charge of aggravated harassment involving domestic violence, and four other charges against Clark were dropped.

The judge eventually scheduled the mitigation hearing for Nov. 28 at 3 p.m. The motions to withdraw from the plea will be heard during the hearing also.

Geller has until Nov. 9 at 5 p.m. to file his motion with the court and Gunderson has five days after that to file a response.

Clark was arrested here by Yuma County sheriff's deputies on July 24, 2006, on suspicion of trespassing at his father-in-law's residence on Laguna Dam Road, where his wife was staying at the time. He was booked into Yuma County jail, where he spent about 55 hours before being released without charges.

Clark's wife, former Yuman Monica Rodriguez Gonzalez, filed for a domestic violence protective order in June 2006, claiming that Clark had abused her. The order prohibited Clark from having any contact with her and eight other people, including their child and the woman's father.

A warrant was later issued for Clark's arrest after he failed to appear in Yuma Justice Court on a summons charging him with misdemeanor counts of interfering with judicial proceedings per domestic violence and harassment per domestic violence, as well as one count of contempt of court.

Then in December and January, the Yuma County Attorney's Office filed additional charges against Clark, including two felony counts of aggravated harassment and four felony counts of failure to comply with a court order. He was also charged with a misdemeanor count of failure to comply with a court order.

Clark, who also received a summons on those charges, did not appear for his Feb. 27 arraignment in Yuma Justice Court and a second warrant was issued for his arrest.

Clark was wanted on two arrest warrants issued in Yuma County when he was arrested on July 30 of this year in North Little Rock, Ark., on drug-related charges.

Clark was disqualified from "Idol" after reaching the finals of the second season in 2003 for failing to reveal a previous arrest. He later accused "Idol" judge Paula Abdul of coaching him and initiating an affair. She denied his allegations, and Fox TV cleared Abdul of any wrongdoing.

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James Gilbert can be reached at

jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854.