Case Name: PEOPLE v. CARLISLE
Court: Michigan Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: Michigan
Decision Date: 1969-10-29
Citations: 19 Mich. App. 680
Docket Number: Docket No. 5,931
Parties: PEOPLE v. CARLISLE
Judges: Before: Lesinski, C. J., and Fitzgerald and V. J. Brennan, JJ.
Reporter: Michigan appeals reports; cases decided in the Michigan Court of Appeals.
Volume: 19
Pages: 680–688

Head Matter:
PEOPLE v. CARLISLE
Opinion op the Court
1. Criminal Law — Plea op Guilty — Circumstances op Plea— Court Rules.
Questioning of a defendant by the trial eourt, even though exhaustive; regarding Ms unequivocal desire to plead guilty, without pursuing his apparent intention and willingness to discuss the circumstances behind his plea, constitutes but a minimal compliance with the rule requiring that the court determine whether a guilty plea is being made voluntarily and knowingly inasmuch as the rule additionally requires the trial eourt to examine the defendant carefully regarding the nature of the accusation, wMeh must contain the elements of the crime charged (GGR 1963, 785.3 [2]).
2. Criminal Law — Plea op Guilty — Elements op Crime — Belief.
An accused should not plead guilty to a crime which he may not have committed despite his willingness to believe that he committed it.
3. Criminal Law — Plea op Guilty — Interrosation—Preliminary Examination.
A plea of guilty is properly taken when the court carefully inquires into the facts and, even though there are elements of the erime charged which are not apparent in those facts revealed by the defendant during this questioning, these elements may be properly provided by reference to the preliminary examination.
References for Points in Headnotes
[1-6] 21 Am Jur 2d, Criminal Law § 484 et seq.
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.
[7-12] 21 Am Jur 2d, Criminal Law §§ 504, 505.
4. Criminal Law — Plea or Guilty — Acceptance or Plea — Review or Pacts.
Acceptance of a plea of guilty is proper where the eourt, after reviewing all available facts, is satisfied that if ■ there were a trial, the defendant might well be convieted.
5. Criminal Law — Plea or Guilty — Acceptance or Plea — Walker Hearing — Necessity.
A Walker hearing is necessary to determine the legality of obtaining a defendant’s confession, upon which defendant’s guilty plea is based, where a eourt, in denying defendant’s motion to withdraw the guilty plea, apparently relied heavily on the confession.
6. Criminal Law — Voluntariness or Confession — Plea or Guilty —Inquiry—Acceptance or Plea.
The trial court should further inquire into the facts of the ease before again accepting a guilty plea if a Walker hearing reveals that a defendant’s confession was involuntary and thus was improperly considered by the trial eourt at acceptance of a plea of guilty.
Dissenting Opinion
V. J. Brennan, J.
7. Criminal Law — Plea or Guilty — Withdrawal—Court Rules— Noncompliance.
Noncompliance with the prophylactic standards of the rule requiring a trial eourt to inform an accused of the nature of the accusation, the consequences of a guilty plea, and to determine whether the plea is being made voluntarily and knowingly, does not alone warrant the withdrawal of a convicted defendant’s guilty plea (GCB 1963, 78S.8[2]).
8. Criminal Law — Plea or Guilty — Withdrawal—Justipication.
It must appear that the procedural fcmlt of which defendant complains affected the outcome of his case before withdrawal of a guilty plea is justified.
9. Criminal Law — Plea or Guilty- — Withdrawal—Court Rule — • Noncompliance — Miscarriage or Justice — Burden.
A convicted defendant seeking to withdraw his guilty plea has the burden of showing something more than a technical noncompliance with the rule requiring a trial cowt to inform an accused of the nature of the accusation, the consequences of a guilty plea, and to determine the voluntariness and scienter of that plea; therefore, absent any showing by defendant that his constitutional rights were violated or denied, he must allege m his motion to withdraw such facts as would, if true, substantiate a finding that noncompliance with that rule resulted in a miscarriage of justice (GCR 1963, 785.S [3]).
10. Criminal Law — Plea of Guilty — Withdrawal—Reason—Innocence.
The reason accompanying a convicted defendant’s request to withdraw his guilty plea must relate to that defendant’s innocence in fact.
11. Criminal Law — Evidence — Confession — Validity — Plea of Guilty.
Gonclusory assertions that a defendant’s guilty plea was induced by his invalid confession, without stating why the confession is invalid or how it was used to induce a plea of guilty, does not entitle that defendant to an evidentiary hearing to determine the validity of his confession.
12. Criminal Law — Plea of Guilty — Plea Bargaining — Discretion.
Guilty pleas and plea bargaining are an important part of criminal proceedings, and they should neither be restricted unrealistically nor should appellate review be allowed to replace the discretion of the trial judge, who has the ability to observe through confrontation whether a defendant is pleading voluntarily and lonowingly.
Appeal from Recorder’s Court of Detroit, Gerald W. Groat, retired, and Thomas L. Poindexter, JJ.
Submitted Division 1 April 9, 1969, at Detroit.
(Docket No. 5,931.)
Decided October 29, 1969.
Rehearing denied December 12, 1969. Application for leave to appeal filed January 2, 1970.
Doreen Carlisle pled guilty of assault with intent to rob being armed and was placed on probation. At a parole violation hearing she was sentenced to prison. Defendant moved to withdraw her plea of guilty. Motion denied. Defendant appeals.
Remanded with instructions.
Frank J. Kelley, Attorney General, Robert A. Derengoski, Solicitor General, William L. Cahalan, Prosecuting Attorney, Samuel J. Torina, Chief Appellate Lawyer, and Luvenia B. Bockett, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for the people.
Charles Burke, for defendant.
Before: Lesinski, C. J., and Fitzgerald and V. J. Brennan, JJ.

Opinion:
Fitzgerald, J.
In 1965, when defendant-appellant was 22 years of age, she pled guilty to the offense of assault with intent to rob, being armed. She was placed on probation, but she allegedly violated its terms and was sentenced to serve 2 to 20 years in prison. In 1968, she filed a motion to withdraw her plea of guilty alleging failure of the trial court to inquire into the underlying facts and circumstances of the charge before accepting her plea which was heard by the successor to the trial judge. The motion was denied on the grounds that GCR 1963, 785.3, was substantially complied with in that statements made by her to the investigating detective showed that she was informed of a plan to commit a robbery; that she was a "lookout"; that she drove off with the money; and that she drove her accomplice, who was shot, to the hospital. In other words, the court considered this confession to provide a subtsantial basis for the acceptance of her plea.
The trial court exhaustively questioned the defendant as to her unequivocal desire to plead guilty. It did not pursue the apparent intention and willingness of the defendant to discuss the circumstances behind her plea. The court, did comply minimally with OCR 1963, 785.3(2), as to the plea being freely made, but did not meet the additional requirement that a defendant be carefully examined as to the nature of the accusation which must contain the elements of the crime charged. It is desirable that a defendant not plead guilty to a crime which she well may not have committed despite her willingness to believe to the contrary. People v. Perine (1967), 7 Mich App 292; People v. Barrows (1959), 358 Mich 267.
The recent case of People v. Bartlett (1969), 17 Mich App 205, is support for this holding that a guilty plea is properly taken when the court carefully inquires into the facts. However, even where there are elements of the crime charged which are not apparent in those facts revealed by the defendant during this carefnl questioning, they may be properly provided by reference to the preliminary examination. So if the court, reviewing all available facts, is satisfied that if there were a trial, the defendant might well be convicted, then the acceptance of the plea was correct. Such a factual basis is essential.
At the preliminary examination here, a confession by the defendant was read into the record. The confession was given to a detective without counsel present after she had stated to the assistant prosecuting attorney, a few hours previously, that she did not wish to talk, and asked, "If I want a lawyer what do I do V'
She now says she did not question the confession at the taking of the plea because evidence of the prior statement to the assistant prosecuting attorney was not in the court file and she could not know that the confession would be used to provide a factual basis for the unquestioned acceptance of her plea. The fact that the reviewing court which heard her motion to withdraw the plea apparently relied heavily on the confession in denying the motion prompts us to remand this case for a "Walker hearing" (People v. Walker [On Rehearing, 1965], 374 Mich 331) to determine the legality of the obtaining of the confession upon which the tender and acceptance of the plea was based. People v. Daniels (1966), 2 Mich App 395.
The only other evidence offered at the preliminary examination was provided by a patrolman who testified that, based on a description and address of a girl who drove the wounded man to the hospital, he went to defendant's house. She there stated that she did drive the man to the hospital after he came to her house and asked her to do so.
If the Walker hearing reveals that the confession was involuntary and thus improperly taken at the preliminary examination, the trial court should further inquire into the facts of the case before again accepting this plea as was done in Daniels, supra. If the confession was proper, taken together with the testimony of the patrolman, then a sufficient factual basis appears to exist, despite the absence of the desirable examination of the defendant.
Remanded for a hearing on the voluntariness of the confession based on People v. Walker, supra. If the confession is found to have been involuntarily made, then a new trial shall be had, otherwise the cause is affirmed.
Lesinski, C. J., concurred.
CL 1948, § 750.89 (Stat Ann 1962 Rev § 28.284).
CL 1948, § 768.35 (Stat Ann 1954 Rev § 28.1058).