People v. Mason, 25125
| Decision Date | 27 December 1971 |
| Docket Number | No. 25125,25125 |
| Citation | 176 Colo. 544,491 P.2d 1383 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Hubert MASON, Jr., Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Colorado Supreme Court |
Duke W. Dunbar, Atty. Gen., John P. Moore, Deputy Atty. Gen., Aurel M. Kelly, Asst. Atty. Gen., Denver, for plaintiff-appellee.
Rollie R. Rogers, Colorado State Public Defender, J. D. MacFarlane, Chief Deputy State Public Defender, Randolph M. Karsh, Deputy State Public Defender, Denver, for defendant-appellant.
This matter is here on appeal from a ruling of the Denver District Court refusing to vacate a plea of guilty which the defendant Hubert Mason, Jr. contends is invalid.
On November 1, 1968, Mason appeared for arraignment on a charge of so-called 'aggravated' robbery. At that time, the district attorney moved to amend the information to include a second count of 'simple' robbery. Before granting the district attorney's motion, the trial court asked the defendant whether his retained counsel had explained the second count to him. The defendant replied in the affirmative. Thereafter, the defendant pleaded guilty to the second count. Thereupon, the district attorney dismissed the charge of 'aggravated' robbery. At no time did the trial court advise the defendant of the elements of the crime with which he was charged, nor make any inquiry of defendant's knowledge of those elements other than whether defendant's attorney had explained it to him.
The Attorney General has confessed error, and has advised the Court that, in his opinion, the sentence must be vacated. We agree.
It is axiomatic that a plea of guilty cannot stand unless a defendant understands the nature and elements of the crime with which he is charged before he enters such a plea. We have pointed out repeatedly in this state that United States Supreme Court decisions compel that the facts showing defendant's knowledge be spread upon the record. People v. Riney, Colo., 489 P.2d 1304 (1971); People v. Randolph, Colo., 488 P.2d 203 (1971); Westendorf v. People, 171 Colo. 123, 464 P.2d 866 (1970); Martinez v. People, 152 Colo. 521, 382 P.2d 990 (1963).
The record in this case is barren of any testimony as to what defendant's attorney told him, and as to what specifically he knew about the nature and elements of the charge when he pleaded guilty. Just as in Randolph, supra, nothing apart from the baldest conclusions establishes that the defendant here knew the nature and...
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People v. Drake
...that the defendant knew the critical elements of the charge when the plea of guilty was entered."); People v. Mason, Jr., 176 Colo. 544, 545-46, 491 P.2d 1383, 1383-84 (1971) (defense counsel's explanation to the defendant of charge against him held insufficient to satisfy the constitutiona......
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Lacy v. People
...the defendant knew the critical elements of the crime when the plea was entered. Watkins, 655 P.2d at 837; People v. Mason, Jr., 176 Colo. 544, 545-46, 491 P.2d 1383, 1383-84 (1971). Where the crime to which the plea is entered is relatively simple, reading the information to the defendant ......
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People v. Walker
...habitual criminality dismissed as a result of the plea bargain. People v. Keenan, 185 Colo. 317, 524 P.2d 604 (1974); People v. Mason, 176 Colo. 544, 491 P.2d 1383 (1971); People v. Ivery, 44 Colo.App. 511, 615 P.2d 80 ...
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Watkins v. People, 81SC82
...the conclusion that the defendant knew the critical elements of the charge when the plea of guilty was entered. People v. Mason, Jr., 176 Colo. 544, 491 P.2d 1383 (1971). In attacking the constitutional validity of a prior conviction in habitual criminal proceedings, the defendant must make......