Case Name: PEOPLE v. SNYDER
Court: Michigan Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: Michigan
Decision Date: 1974-05-02
Citations: 53 Mich. App. 249
Docket Number: Docket No. 17826
Parties: PEOPLE v SNYDER
Judges: Before: R. B. Burns, P. J., and Allen and O’Hara, JJ.
Reporter: Michigan appeals reports; cases decided in the Michigan Court of Appeals.
Volume: 53
Pages: 249–252

Head Matter:
PEOPLE v SNYDER
Opinion of the Court
1. Criminal Law — Plea of Guilty — Constitutional Law — Right-to Trial — Privilege Against Self-Incrimination.
A trial judge did not sufficiently inform a defendant of his right to trial and privilege against self-incrimination where he failed to inform the defendant of these rights upon accepting the defendant’s plea of guilty, and attempted to correct the oversight through examination of the defendant upon sentencing two weeks later.
2. Criminal Law — Plea of Guilty — Constitutional Law.
Accepting a plea of guilty and then informing a defendant of his rights at a later date prevents the plea from being entered freely, understandingly and voluntarily as required by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (US Const, Am XIV).
Dissent by O’Hara, J.
3. Criminal Law — Constitutional Law — Plea of Guilty — Court Rules — Advice to Defendant.
Court rules provided that a defendant be informed of his constitutional rights' after he pleads guilty and before imposition of sentence, without any direction as to the order in which such advice is to be given; thus, where a judge substantially informed a defendant of his rights and ascertained that a plea of ■guilty was being made freely, understandingly and voluntarily, and later speciñcally informed the defendant of his constitutional rights prior to imposing sentence, the judge sufficiently complied with the court rule to overcome whatever initial inñrmity there may have been in the plea-taking process (US Const, Am V; GCR1963, 78S.3[2j).
References for Points in Headnotes
[1-3] 21 Am Jur 2d, Criminal Law §§ 486-491, 505.
Court’s duty to advise or admonish accused as to consequences of plea of guilty, or to determine that he is advised thereof. 97 ALR2d 549.
Appeal from Ottawa, Wendell A. Miles, J.
Submitted Division 3 February 5, 1974, at Grand Rapids.
(Docket No. 17826.)
Decided May 2, 1974.
John Snyder was convicted, on his plea of guilty, of breaking and entering with intent to commit larceny. Defendant appeals.
Reversed and remanded.
Frank J. Kelley, Attorney General, Robert A. Derengoski, Solicitor General, Calvin L. Bosnian, Prosecuting Attorney (William P. Weiner, Prosecuting Attorneys Appellate Service, of counsel), for the people.
John B. Phelps, Assistant State Appellate Defender, for defendant.
Before: R. B. Burns, P. J., and Allen and O’Hara, JJ.
Former Supreme Court Justice, sitting on the Court of Appeals by-assignment pursuant to Const 1963, art 6, § 23 as amended in 1968.

Opinion:
R. B. Burns, P. J.
Defendant pled guilty to breaking and entering an occupied dwelling with the intent to commit larceny. MCLA 750.110; MSA 28.305.
At that hearing the trial judge did not inform the defendant of his privilege against self incrimination as required by People v Jaworski, 387 Mich 21; 194 NW2d 868 (1972).
At sentencing, approximately two weeks later, the trial judge attempted to correct this oversight. The following colloquy took place:
"The Court: You understand now and you understood then when you entered a plea of guilty you were waiving your right to a trial?
"The Defendant: Yes.
'The Court: You knew that you had a right to remain silent, didn't you?
'The Defendant: Yes, sir."
The thrust of Jaworski is that the defendant should be informed of the rights he loses by pleading guilty in order that he may make an intelligent choice and understand the consequences of such a plea. Accepting the plea and then informing a defendant of his rights at a later date prevents the plea from being entered freely, understandingly and voluntarily as required by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Reversed and remanded for a new trial.
Allen, J., concurred.