State v. Stone

331 N.E.2d 411, 43 Ohio St. 2d 163, 72 Ohio Op. 2d 91, 1975 Ohio LEXIS 557
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 16, 1975
DocketNo. 74-738
StatusPublished
Cited by123 cases

This text of 331 N.E.2d 411 (State v. Stone) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Stone, 331 N.E.2d 411, 43 Ohio St. 2d 163, 72 Ohio Op. 2d 91, 1975 Ohio LEXIS 557 (Ohio 1975).

Opinion

Corrigan, J.

Appellant proposes one proposition of law for this court’s consideration. He maintains that his guilty plea in this case was not voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently made because the record discloses only that the defendant understood his right to a jury trial and does not affirmatively disclose that: (1) Either the trial judge or defendant’s counsel explained to him the facts or circumstances surrounding his plea; (2) the defendant understood he had the right to confront his accusers; (3) the defendant understood his right against self-incrimination; and (4) the defendant understood the state must prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

We disagree with that proposition for the reason that it incorrectly states the legal requirements of a voluntary, knowing and intelligent guilty plea and ignores the facts disclosed by the record in this case.

Appellant relies primarily on Boykin v. Alabama (1969), 395 U. S. 238, and State v. Griffey (1973), 35 Ohio St. 2d 101, for the proposition that the record must affirmatively disclose not only a voluntary and understanding waiver of the privilege against self-incrimination, the right to a jury trial, the right to confront one’s accusers, but, also, that the court informed the defendant of the preceding enumerated rights and, in addition, counselled the defendant concerning the penalty attached to the plea and [165]*165explained that the state must prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. ■ ■

This proposition is incorrect. Boykin, supra, is distinguishable on its facts. Boykin involved a plea of guilty to common-law robbery for which the extreme penalty was death. The defendant, in that case, had appointed counsel but the record was silent as to whether his counsel had ever advised him of the rights waived by a plea of guilty. The record also failed to indicate whether the trial court had advised the defendant of his rights and, in fact, failed to indicate any inquiry between the court and the defendant. The United States Supreme Court held that upon those facts the defendant could not be presumed to have waived his important constitutional rights, including the privilege against self-incrimination, the right to confront his accusers, and the right to a jury trial. The Boykin decision did not specifically require that a defendant’s rights be enumerated and explained by the trial court in all cases in order for a waiver to be knowing and voluntary. The.court held only that the record must affirmatively disclose a waiver of these three rights in order for a guilty plea to be entered understandingly and voluntarily. ■

In Brady v. United States (1970), 397 U. S. 742, the United States Supreme Court held that, where a defendant was advised by competent counsel and was made aware of the nature of the charge against him and there was no indication that the defendant was incompetent or otherwise not in control of his faculties, a change of plea from not guilty to guilty, based upon the decision of a codefendant to plead guilty and thereby become available to testify against the defendant, was not involuntary even though his counsel had failed to anticipate a decision of the United States Supreme Court invalidating the state statute requiring the death penalty only upon the recommendation of a jury. -

More importantly for the case at bar, Brady, supra, in discussing the intelligence aspect of the plea, implied that the aid of competent counsel and a query by the court -as [166]*166to whether the defendant understood that he was admitting and confessing the truth of the charge contained in the indictment without coercion satisfied the court’s duty to ascertain whether the guilty plea was intelligent and voluntary.

It should he noted that the United States Supreme Court, in McCarthy v. United States (1968), 394 U. S. 459, construed Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to require trial courts to personally inquire of a defendant as to whether he understands the nature of the charge and the consequences of his guilty plea as well as to satisfy himself that there is a factual basis for the plea. “The judge must determine,” the court stated, at page 467, citing from F. R. Crim. P. 11, “ ‘that the conduct which the defendant admits constitutes the offense charged in the indictment or information or an offense included therein to which the defendant has pleaded guilty. ’ ’ ’ The court, however, based its holding solely upon the application of F. R. Crim. P. 11 to the facts in that case and not upon constitutional grounds.

In Halliday v. United States (1969), 394 U. S. 831, the United States Supreme Court declined to apply the decision in McCarthy, supra, retroactively.

The federal district court trial in Brady, supra (397 U. S. 742), occurred before the amendment of F. R. Crim. P. 11 in 1966, and the Boykin decision involved a judgment of a state trial court. These decisions and earlier decisions relating to the waiver of important constitutional rights establish the duty of trial courts in regard to the acceptance of guilty pleas.

Clearly, for a waiver of a constitutional right to be valid under the due-process clause to the United States Constitution, it must be “an intentional relinquishment or abandonment of a known right or privilege,” and whether one accused of a crime has waived an important right must depend in each case upon the particular facts and circumstances surrounding that case, including the background, experience, and conduct of the accused. Johnson v. Zerbst [167]*167(1938), 304 U. S. 458, 464. A waiver of important constitutional rights cannot be presumed from a silent record, and when courts exercise the utmost solicitude £ * * * in canvassing the matter with the accused to make sure he had a full understanding of what the plea connotes and its consequences * * * he leaves a record adequate for any later review which may be sought.” Boykin v. Alabama, supra, at 244. And, where the record before the court indicates that the defendant was advised by competent counsel, made aware of the nature of the charge against him, and no evidence appeared to indicate that he was incompetent, then the defendant’s choice to plead guilty in light of the availability of a codefendant to testify against him, perhaps to avoid the death penalty, was intelligently made. Brady v United States, supra (397 U. S. 742, 756).

In the case of Johnson v. Ohio, 42 L. Ed. 2d 158 (October 21, 1974), the United States Supreme Court denied a writ of certiorari in an appeal from the Court of Appeals for Clark County. In a memorandum decision, three judges dissented from the denial of certiorari.

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Bluebook (online)
331 N.E.2d 411, 43 Ohio St. 2d 163, 72 Ohio Op. 2d 91, 1975 Ohio LEXIS 557, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-stone-ohio-1975.