State v. MartinState v. Martin
Michael Martin was found in possession of a concealed handgun and was charged with violation of
In Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238, 89 S.Ct. 1709, 23 L.Ed.2d 274 (1969), the United States Supreme Court held that a guilty plea may not be accepted unless there is an affirmative showing that it is intelligently and voluntarily made, evidenced on review by a record which shows defendant‘s effective waiver of his right against self-incrimination, his right to trial by jury and his right to confront his accusers. In State ex rel. Jackson v. Henderson, 260 La. 90, 255 So.2d 85 (1971), we first applied the principles of Boykin, in the context of a prisoner‘s attempt to have his prior guilty plea set aside. In State v. Lewis, 367 So.2d 1155 (La.1979), we held that the only previous pleas of guilty which could be used to enhance a sentence are those supported by a contemporaneous record of a Boykin examination demonstrating the free and voluntary nature of the plea of guilty with the articulated waiver of the constitutional rights required by Boykin v. Alabama, supra. In Lewis, we also referred to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, the offense with which Martin is here charged, as an example of the sentence enhancement use of a previous plea of guilty. Defendant was therefore correct in contending that the bill of information must be quashed if the record of his prior guilty plea does not show that he was adequately informed of his right against self-incrimination.
The transcript of the 1976 proceeding in which Martin entered a plea of guilty shows that the trial judge‘s sole reference to defendant‘s right against self-incrimination was made in the following terms:
“Now, you also waive your right by not going to trial you waive your right to question witnesses against you. By pleading guilty, you‘re also waiving your right to remain silent because you‘re not remaining silent when you plead guilty. Do you understand that?”
The issue presented by this language is not whether the judge erred in failing to pronounce the magic words, “right against self-incrimination.” We recognize that the purpose underlying the rule of Boykin is to ensure the defendant‘s receipt of adequate information, so that his decision to plead guilty is truly intelligent and voluntary, and that this information may successfully be conveyed in words tailored to a particular individual‘s vocabulary and comprehension. See State ex rel. LeBlanc v. Henderson, 261 La. 315, 259 So.2d 557 (La.1972). Instead, our inquiry must focus on the nature of the decision an accused makes when he chooses to plead guilty, so that we may determine the type of information he must have in order that this decision be truly intelligent and voluntary.
In North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 31, 91 S.Ct. 160, 164, 27 L.Ed.2d 162, 168 (1970), the test for determining the validity of guilty pleas was described by the United States Supreme Court:
“. . . the standard was and remains whether the plea represents a voluntary and intelligent choice among the alternative courses of action open to the defendant.. . .”
The identity of these “alternative courses of action” emerges clearly from Alford, a case in which the defendant denied that he had committed the crime with which he was charged, but nevertheless chose to enter a plea of guilty:
“. . . Although denying the charge against him, he nevertheless preferred the dispute between him and the State to be settled by the judge in the context of a guilty plea proceeding rather than by a formal trial. . . .” 400 U.S. at 32, 91 S.Ct. at 165, 27 L.Ed.2d at 168.
In finding that an express admission of guilt is not a constitutional requirement for the imposition of a criminal penalty, the court noted that most pleas of guilty consist of two elements, an admission of guilt and a waiver of trial, but that the admission of guilt is not a necessary element. It appears, then, that in deciding whether or not to plead guilty, an accused must make two separate choices. One choice, whether to admit his guilt or to deny it, is not constitutionally essential to the plea itself. The other, whether to risk standing trial and being found guilty by the trier of fact or to avoid a trial and plead guilty (often of a lesser offense) is the crucial element of his decision. It is with regard to the latter element that an accused must be fully informed: he must be told what three basic rights at trial are guaranteed to him by the Constitution, so that he might, with some degree of basic information, weigh his chances of success against his chances of failure in a trial.
The judgment of the district court is affirmed.
MARCUS, J., dissents and assigns reasons.
EDWARD A. de la HOUSSAYE, J. Ad Hoc, dissents for reasons assigned by MARCUS, J.
MARCUS, Justice (dissenting).
In State v. Holden, 375 So.2d 1372 (La. 1979), we restricted the application of State v. Lewis, 367 So.2d 1155 (La.1979), to Louisiana convictions subsequent to December 8, 1971 (date of Jackson‘s finality). Lewis and Holden both involved habitual offender proceedings (