Harshman v. State, 28959
| Decision Date | 25 November 1953 |
| Docket Number | No. 28959,28959 |
| Citation | 232 Ind. 618,115 N.E.2d 501 |
| Parties | HARSHMAN v. STATE. |
| Court | Indiana Supreme Court |
James C. Cooper, Public Defender, Richard M. Givan, Asst., Rushville, for appellant.
Edwin K. Steers, Atty. Gen., Frank E. Spencer, Deputy Atty. Gen., for appellee.
In July of 1947 the appellant entered a plea of guilty to a charge of vehicle taking, and he was sentenced to imprisonment for a term of one to ten years. In January of 1952 he filed his verified petition for writ of error coram nobis whereby he sought to be permitted to withdraw his plea of guilty and enter a plea of not guilty to said charge. The relief sought was denied and this appeal perfected. All of the proceedings herein referred to were in the Cass Circuit Court.
We set out a part of the colloquy between judge and accused, at the time of arraignment, as follows:
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Under our practice an accused may enter a plea of guilty in any case, and thereby waive his constitutional right to trial by jury. But to be valid and binding upon the accused, such a plea must be made by the accused intelligently, advisedly and understandingly, with full knowledge of his rights, and with the considered approval of the judge before whom he stands charged.
A valid plea of guilty in a court having jurisdiction of the offense is a judicial confession of guilt. Batchelor v. State, 1920, 189 Ind. 69, 125 N.E. 773. It admits the incriminating facts alleged. 22 C.J.S., Criminal Law, § 424. It should be cautiously received. It should not be accepted from one who does not know, or who, at the time of arraignment, asserts that he does not know, whether or not he has committed the crime charged, for such would be entirely incompatible with the idea of an admission of guilt, and wholly inconsistent with the due administration of justice.
As we view it, a plea of guilty tendered by one who in the same breath protests his innocence, or declares he actually does not know whether or not he is guilty, is no plea at all. Certainly it is not a sufficient plea upon which to base a judgment of conviction. No plea of guilty should be accepted when it appears to be doubtful whether it is...
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Bonner v. State
...552. In order to be valid and binding, a plea of guilty must be made intelligently, advisedly, and understandingly. Harshman v. State (1953),232 Ind. 618, 620, 115 N.E.2d 501. See also: Johnson v. Zerbst (1938), 304 U.S. 458, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 82 L.Ed. Recent developments in the area of guilty......
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...it appears that, for any reason, the plea is wholly inconsistent with the realities of the situation.'" (quoting Harshman v. State, 232 Ind. 618, 115 N.E.2d 501, 502 (1953))). But the Virginia courts have never expressed this view, and we must follow our own precedents holding that the Alfo......
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...when it appears that, for any reason, the plea is wholly inconsistent with the realities of the situation.' (Emphasis added.) 232 Ind. at 621, 115 N.E.2d at 502. A similar fact situation to the case at hand is Nicholas v. State (1973), Ind., 300 N.E.2d 656. The trial court refused to accept......
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...ineffective in handling the State's plea offer to Isom, he argues here that the Court should revisit its holding in Harshman v. State , 232 Ind. 618, 115 N.E.2d 501 (1953), in light of McCoy v. Louisiana , ––– U.S. ––––, 138 S. Ct. 1500, 200 L.Ed.2d 821 (2018). The post-conviction court den......
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CHAPTER 9 ADJUDICATION: TRIALS AND GUILTY PLEAS
...breath protests his innocence, or declares he does not actually know whether or not he is guilty, is no plea at all." Harshman v. State, 232 Ind. 618, 621, 115 N.E.2d 501, 502 (1953).... Indiana jurisprudence has insisted that a factual basis must exist for a guilty plea, and that a judge m......