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Criminal Procedure Keyed to Dressler
Brady v. United States
Citation:
397 U.S. 742, 90 S.Ct. 1463, 25 L.Ed. 747.Facts
The defendant was charged with kidnaping. He faced the death penalty if he went to trial. Initially, the defendant plead not guilty. Upon learning that his codefendant, who had confessed to the authorities, would plead guilty and be available to testify against him, the defendant also plead guilty. His plea was accepted after the trial judge twice questioned him as to the voluntariness of his plea. He was sentenced to 50 years’ imprisonment, later reduced to 30.
Several years later, the defendant claimed that his guilty plea was not voluntarily given because the statute operated to coerce his plea, as he faced the death penalty if he went to trial. The District Court denied relief and concluded that the plea was voluntarily and knowingly made.
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