Court Opinion

ID: 9673403
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 04:11:03.6396+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:21.960634
License: Public Domain

White, J.,
dissenting.
The record fails to show that the essential elements of the crime with which the defendant was charged were part of the dialogue between the court and the appellant. Among the rights waived by the defendant by a guilty plea is the requirement of the State to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the crime charged, i.e., each and every essential element of the crime. How we can conclude from this record that such a plea was voluntary is a mystery. We presume that a mere waiver of the reading of a complaint excuses the court of failing to explain to the defendant what it is the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt. The record cannot, as to this essential point, be said to be anything other than silent. The plea proceedings failed to meet the requirements of Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238, 89 S. Ct. 1709, 23 L. Ed. 2d 274 (1969), and of State v. Tweedy, 209 Neb. 649, 309 N.W.2d 94 (1981), and should be set aside and the cause remanded for a new trial.
Shanahan, J., joins in this dissent.