State v. Svitak

Defendant prosecutes this appeal from a sentence of life imprisonment for second-degree murder on a plea of guilty. Defendant contends the trial court erred in permitting him to waive his right to a jury trial and later to withdraw his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity and enter a plea of guilty to second-degree murder. Defendant also attacks the severity of his sentence. We affirm.

On March 5, 1974, the defendant was charged with second-degree murder. Defendant admits that he fired three shots from a .22-caliber rifle which caused the death of his ex-wife. The preliminary hearing was…