On cross-examination, he admitted that he had signed a plea agreement form, but could not recall if he was represented by an attorney. Defendant could not recall the name of the judge and disputed that he was placed on probation. In sum, defendant's testimony is insufficient to suggest existence of any defect. Defendant next claims that the State failed to establish the validity of the pleas in the three prior convictions from 1980 and 1987. At the hearing on the validity of the prior convictions, the State presented certified copies of the docket and disposition reports of the three convictions, which were accepted by the court.
Plea has a factual basis.
Said plea is hereby accepted and adjudication of guilty is entered hereon. Defendant fails to meet his burden of demonstrating why this Court should find any of these convictions infirm, a burden imposed once the State establishes the convictions and the voluntariness of the waivers. In this context, no presumption arises that the earlier convictions are invalid if they were never challenged on direct appeal as having been obtained through uninformed guilty pleas. Since defendant offered no evidence to refute that provided by the state, the prior convictions were validly factored into the determination of defendant's enhanced sentence. Defendant's final claim is that the court should not have considered the 1980 conviction, as the record indicated that he waived his right to an attorney.