The defendant appeals from the judgment of conviction, after his pleas of guilty, of conspiracy
We begin by addressing the defendant’s first claim of error. “It is axiomatic that unless a plea of guilty is made knowingly and voluntarily, it has been obtained in violation of due process and is therefore voidable. McCarthy v. United States,
Our courts have stopped short of adopting a per se rule that notice of the true nature of the charge always requires the court to give a description of every element of the offense charged. Id., 123. “The trial court’s failure to explicate an element renders the plea invalid only where the omitted element is a critical one; [Henderson v. Morgan, supra, 647 n.18]; and only where it is not appropriate to presume that defense counsel has explained the nature of the offense in sufficient detail to give the accused notice of what he is being asked to admit.” Id.
The record in this case indicates that the trial court did not inform the defendant of any of the elements of the crimes with which he was charged. See State v. Patterson, supra. Furthermore, the record does not suggest any facts which would give rise to the presumption that defense counsel informed the defendant of those elements. State v. Joyner,
There is error, the judgment is set aside and the case is remanded with direction to permit the defendant to withdraw his guilty pleas and for further proceedings according to law.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.
