Court Opinion

ID: 9625649
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 07:46:41.069712+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:06:12.645391
License: Public Domain

Thompson, Justice,
dissenting.
The purpose and function of the criminal justice system is to separate fairly, reliably, and effectively, the guilty from the innocent. When an accused comes before the bar of justice to enter a plea of guilty, a transforming event occurs. At that moment, the accused relinquishes his liberties and stands convicted of a crime. This decisive event cannot meet constitutional muster unless the plea is knowingly and intelligently entered. Uniform Superior Court Rule 33.8, drafted by the Council of Superior Court Judges, and adopted by this Court, was devised to ensure that the accused is adequately informed of his trial rights under the constitution so that a subsequent waiver of those rights is intelligently obtained. When the rule is conscientiously followed, not only is the accused protected against a constitutionally infirm waiver, the State is also benefitted by having a complete record with which to meet a later challenge. For these reasons, I agree with the dissent that Rule 33.8 should be strictly followed by the trial court when accepting a plea of guilty, and that anything short of full compliance constitutes error of a constitutional magnitude.