Court Opinion

ID: 9596395
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 00:49:05.049895+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:12:01.036698
License: Public Domain

SIMMS, Judge
(specially concurring):
Boykin v. Alabama, supra, as relied upon by Appellant and as cited by my colleague, Judge Brett, in his opinion, stands for the simple proposition that an understanding and voluntary plea of guilty will not be presumed from a silent record. For in Boykin, the Supreme Court of the United States emphasized in the body of its opinion, that the judge accepting the plea of guilty “asked no questions of petitioner concerning his plea, and petitioner did not address the court.”
In the instant case, we do not have a “silent” record, however, it is my opinion that it would be the better practice on the part of trial judges, throughout the state, to advise a defendant, who tenders a plea of guilty, as to the defendant’s privilege against self-incrimination guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment, as well as the defendant’s right to jury trial and his constitutional right of confrontation.