We granted petitioner’s application to appeal the denial of his petition for habeas corpus in which he challenged the validity of his guilty plea to theft by receiving goods over $100.00 and the sentence of six years imposed by the Richmond County Superior Court on that plea.
1. Before examining the merits, a threshold question concerning mootness must be addressed. It is undisputed that the sentence on the guilty plea in issue in this case expired on February 9, 1976. It is also undisputed that on November 21, 1974, while petitioner was serving the six-year sentence challenged here, the Jefferson County Superior Court imposed a sentence on a separate
Because petitioner has completed the sentence challenged here, the question of mootness arises. The petitioner contends that the petition is not moot because the setting aside of the Richmond County sentence would mean that the petitioner commenced serving the Jefferson County sentence on the date of sentencing, November 21, 1974, and would be due for release now. We agree that the issue is not moot. Parris v. State,
2. Petitioner contends that he was denied due process because the court allowed him to plead guilty on a silent record to an offense not charged.
Under the Richmond County grand jury indictment, petitioner was charged with burglary (Code Ann. § 26-1601) in that he “unlawfully with force and arms, without authority and with intent to commit a felony therein entered the dwelling house of James R. Nelson, the owner thereof.” The petitioner pleaded “guilty” to theft by receiving goods over $100.00 (Code Ann. §§ 26-1806, 26-1812). There is no transcript of the guilty plea and the record is silent concerning the facts relied on to constitute the offense.
Petitioner contends that he has been denied due process because his guilty plea was made to an offense not described in the indictment, and particularly because theft by receiving is not a lesser included offense of burglary. He argues that neither a conviction nor a guilty plea can be sustained on a charge not made, particularly on a silent record
In Henderson v. Morgan,
In Wilson v. Reed,
In the case before us, as in Wilson, there is no evidence as to the value of the property taken. Aside from this similarity the case before us differs from Wilson. First, theft by taking may be a lesser included offense to burglary while theft by receiving is not a lesser included offense to burglary. Wells v. State,
The waivers necessarily involved in a guilty plea cannot be presumed from a silent record. See Boykin v. Alabama,
Judgment reversed.
Notes
There is a suggestion of record, but no proof, that the Jefferson County sentence was imposed for escape. Because the nature of the Jefferson County offense has not been established, we do not consider whether escape bars petitioner from seeking habeas corpus relief. See Strickland v. Hopper, 571 F2d 275 (5th Cir. 1978), cert. denied
