Opinion ID: 1716842
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: personally address

Text: Rule 785.7 provides: .7 Plea of Guilty and Plea of Nolo Contendere. A defendant may enter a plea of guilty or plead nolo contendere only with the consent of the court. If the defendant states his intent to plead guilty or to plead nolo contendere the following practice shall be observed: (1) Advice by the Court. The court shall not accept a plea of guilty or nolo contendere without first personally addressing the defendant and informing him of and determining that he understands the following:. In Courtney, the judge did not personally advise the defendant of the maximum sentence but in moving to add a second count the prosecutor stated the maximum penalty of five years. In Bauer, the judge did not state the charge but the prosecutor read the information on the plea record. These departures do not justify reversal. While it would be better for the judge to cover all the points himself, as long as he assumes the principal burden of imparting the required information, as did the judges in Courtney and Bauer, the purpose of requiring him personally to address the defendant and in so doing observe his demeanor and responses is achieved. A guilty plea conviction will not be reversed if the judge engages in the required colloquy but fails to mention an item which the record shows was established through, for example, an opening statement of or interjection by the prosecutor or defense counsel in the hearing of the judge and defendant. It is proper for the prosecutor or the clerk to read the information in the judge's presence. Nor do we regard grouping of the rights in the judge's recital inconsistent with the personally address requirement. All judges group the recital to some extent, combining a number of rights and imparting several items of information without pause for response by the defendant. No one method of recital is required. In Nicholson and Bauer the judge recited the rights without interruption concluding, in Nicholson, Now, if that is clear  is it? and in Bauer, Do you wish to enter a plea to Count Two? In Pleasants, the judge both began and ended his uninterrupted recitation of the rights specified in 785.7(1)(d) by asking the defendant if he understood that he was waiving or giving up those rights. The method of recital in each of these cases satisfied the personally address requirement.