Opinion ID: 1092410
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: morris' guilty plea

Text: Morris had gone to school only a few days in his life, and could neither read nor write. After a severance, the State put on its testimony, and Morris, represented by Attorney Stratton, began to testify, during which he admitted that he along with Alexander had taken the cow from a common pasture containing 200 cattle, ten of which belonged to Alexander. They thought it was Alexander's cow. Prior to the entry of the guilty plea, there transpired a colloquy between the court and the attorney, Stratton, representing Morris. Excerpts from this are quoted in an appendix to this opinion. However, in substance, the defendant Morris never personally pleaded guilty to the indictment. At the hearing on the motion to vacate, Morris testified that he was not guilty of stealing the cow  he thought it belonged to Alexander. His attorney, an able member of the bar, told him that he should plead guilty, that he could probably get a lighter sentence. Stratton testified that the reason he recommended that Morris plead guilty was because Morris during the trial admitted privately to him that he had stolen the cow. At any rate, that which transpired at the time the plea of guilty was entered, in the context of this record, shows that the court's interrogation, although directed to Morris, was answered solely by his counsel, and that Morris never personally pleaded guilty to the indictment. Although an accused may plead to a misdemeanor by his attorney, under an indictment for a felony he cannot plead by attorney. He must plead in person. Mississippi Code 1942 Annotated section 2504 (1956) states: If the defendant, on arraignment, refuse or neglect to plead, or stand mute, the court must cause the plea of not guilty to be entered, and the trial to proceed. Mississippi Code 1942 Annotated section 2564 provides: A person indicted for a criminal offense shall not be convicted thereof, unless by confession of his guilt in open court or by admitting the truth of the charge against him by his plea, or by the verdict of a jury accepted and recorded in court; and a person charged with an offense shall not be punished therefor unless legally convicted thereof in a court having jurisdiction of the cause and of the person. These statutes have consistently been interpreted as requiring that one charged with a felony must plead to an indictment in person. If he refuses to plead, the court is required to enter for him a plea of not guilty. Wilson v. State, 42 Miss. 639 (1869); McQuillen v. State, 8 Smedes & Marshall 587, 16 Miss. 587 (1847); cf. Bogle v. State, 155 Miss. 612, 125 So. 99 (1929); see 21 Am.Jur.2d Criminal Law § 459 (1965). Since Morris did not plead to the felony indictment personally, his plea of guilty by his attorney was invalid. Furthermore, the evidence reflects that even if the plea by attorney were valid, it was not made intelligently and understandingly.