Opinion by
In Dеcember 1959, appellant was found near the body of his wife with a self-inflicted bullet wound in his left temple. Subsequently he was indicted for her murder and brought to trial.
Approximately five years later appellant filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the Court of Common Pleas of Washington County attacking the validity of his plea. This appeal is from the denial, without a hearing, of that petition. We are of the view that the court below was correct and accordingly affirm its order.
One of the grounds alleged by appellant in support of his petition is that the trial court had no authority to accept a plea to “second degree murder.” Because a defendant may not enter a guilty plea to murder in the first degree, the accepted practice in Pennsylvania if he desires to plead guilty, is for him to enter a guilty plea to murder generally. Commonwealth ex rel. Hobbs v. Russell,
Recently in Commonwealth ex rel. West v. Myers,
In support of his conclusion that his guilty plea was not knowingly made appellant asserts that at the time of the trial he was suffering from the effects of his self-inflicted wound, which prevented him from adequately assisting in his defense and from fully understanding the consequences of his plea. Moreover, he alleges that the decision to plead guilty was made by his counsel, who, by failing to present testimony tending to show that appellant’s offense amounted to no more than voluntary manslaughter, did not provide competent representation. The Commonwealth denies these allegations and answers by asserting that appellant agreed not to attempt to reduce the crime to manslaughter in exchange for the Commonwealth’s willingness to forego seeking a conviction for murder in the first degree. It is the Commonwealth’s position that this strategy, which possibly saved the appellant from the electric chair, is binding upon him and cannot be attacked at this late date. See Commonwealth
The task of thе habeas court would frequently be less difficult if the record of the original proceedings contained a direct inquiry into the defendant’s understanding of his action. Commonwealth ex rel. West v. Myers, supra at 7,
A habeas court must hold a hearing whenever, accepting as true all allegations of fact which are
Appellant’s last mentioned argument, however, goes further, for he urges us to hold that any bargain made under the threat of the electric chair is necessarily coercive and invalid. We turn to a consideration of that argument.
Realistically, however, plea bargaining, when surrounded by proper safeguards, is frequently in the best interest of both the Commonwealth and the accused. Seе United States v. Von Der Heide,
In our opinion there is neither an overriding interest of society which would prohibit such prosecutorial disсretion nor must such bargaining invariably
While we are not willing to completely proscribe plea bargaining, we do rеcognize that the awesome effect of a guilty plea
We are satisfied that under the facts of this case there is no valid reason for concluding that appellant’s plea of guilty was not knowingly and understandingly entered. Since the аllegations of petitioner, even if true, would not require relief, there was no need for a hearing. Accordingly, the order of the court below denying the writ of habeas corpus is affirmed.
Notes
Appellant was not brought to trial until September 1960 because the court, at the rеquest of the district attorney, appointed a commission to inquire into his mental condition. This commission recommended further study and possible treatment. In July 1960 a second commission reported that appellant understood the gravity of the offense charged and had the mental capacity to cooperate with his attorneys in the preparation of his defense.
A plea of guilty is equivalent to a conviction and constitutes a waiver of all nonjurisdictional defects and defenses. Commonwealth ex rel. Ward v. Russell,
Under Pa. Crim. R. 319(a) a court may not accept a guilty plea “unless it determines thаt it is competently and intelligently made.” This rule is patterned after the predecessor to Fed. R. Crim. Pro. 11. Compare the current Rule 11, effective as of July 1, 1966.
See, e.g., Moley, Politics and Criminal Prosecution 156-65, 187-90 (1929); Dash, Cracks in the Foundation of Criminal Justice, 46 Ill. L. Rev. 385, 392-405 (1951) ; Ohlin & Remington, Sentencing Structure: Its Effect Upon Systems for the Administration of Criminal Justice, 23 Law & Contem. Prob. 495 (1958) ; Note, Prosecutоr’s Discretion, 103 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1057, 1070-71 (1955) ; Comment, The Influence of the Defendant’s Plea on Judicial Determination of Sentence, 66 Yale L.J. 204 (1956).
In Pennsylvania during 1965, 14,856 defendants, or close to 63% of all defendants convicted, entered guilty pleas. Letter dated November 3, 1966 from John Yeager, Director, Research and Statistics, Bureau of Corrections, Department of Justice, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Pa. Crim. R. 319(b) inferentially recognizes the prevalence of plea bargaining: “The court, with the consent of the attorney for the Commonwealth, may accept a plea of guilty to any included offense or to any count in an indictment and may discharge the defendant on the other offenses or counts charged.”
See Arnold, Law Enforcement — An Attempt at Social Dissection, 42 Yale L.J. 1, 18 (1932).
See Dash, supra note 4 at 395-97; Newman, Pleading Guilty for Considerations: A Study of Bargain Justice, 46 J. Crim. L., C. & P.S. 780, 790 (1956) ; Ohlin & Remington, supra note 4 at 507.
See United States v. Cariota,
See Dash, supra note 4 at 393-94, 401.
See 8 Moore’s, Federal Practice ¶11.02[1] (2d ed. 1966) ; Newman, supra note 7 at 788; Note, Guilty Plea Bargaining: Compromises by Prosecutors To Secure Guilty Plea Bargaining, 112 U. Pa. L. Rev. 865, 899 (1964) (Quеstion 5).
One of the most common rationalizations by prosecutors for permitting pleas to lesser offenses is the severity of the sentence if the defendant is found guilty of the offense for which he was indicted. See Ohlin & Remington, supra note 4 at 505; Weintraub & Tough, Lesser Pleas Considered, 32 J. Crim. L., C. & P.S. 506, 510 (1941); see generally id. This attitude is in accord with the view which regards rehabilitation of the individual defendant as
“One of the most important, if not the most important funсtions of defense counsel is working out with the prosecuting attorney the most favorable disposition of his client’s case, without any real prospect of acquittal.” Schwartz, Gases and Materials on Professional Responsibility and the Administration of Criminal Justice 182 (1962). See also, Polstein, How To “Settle” A Criminal Case: The Art of Negotiating Lesser Pleas and Sentenсes, in The Problem of a Criminal Defense (ALI ed. 1961). It may also be worth noting that Judge J. Shelly Wright of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia believes that recent decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States regarding the right to counsel will work to the advantage of those defendants desiring to plead guilty. Wright, The New Role of Defense Counsel Under Escobedo and Miranda, 52 A.B.A.J. 1117, 1119-20 (1966).
Barrett, Criminal Justice: The Problem of Mass Production, in The Courts, The Public, and The Law Explosion 85, 109 (Jones ed. 1965). One needs to remember also that jury trials, with all their attendant safeguards, are not infallible. See Borchard, Convicting the Innocent (1932) ; Frank, Not Guilty (1957).
See note 2 supra.
“A guilty plea, if induced by promises or threats which deprive it of the character of a voluntary act, is void.” Machibroda v. United States,
Accord, United States ex rel. Elksnis v. Gilligan,
Commonwealth ex rel. Johnson v. Maroney,
“When the appellate or habeas corpus court is convinced that the accused, fully represented by counsel, has been fairly treated, plea bargaining has its best chance to be held voluntary. Without a record demonstration of fundamental fairness, any plea of guilty based on plea bargaining is in jeopardy on appeal or collateral attack.” Wright, supra note 12 at 1120.
