Commonwealth v. Culbreath

Opinion by

Mr. Chief Justice Bell,

On January 13, 1969, the defendant, Wallace Culbreath, was to be tried by a jury for the murder of Ernest McNeil. As the case was being readied for actual trial in the courtroom, defendant, while represented by Court-appointed counsel, stated his intention to plead guilty to the murder. Defendant was interrogated by both his counsel and the trial Judge with respect to his awareness of the consequences of the entry of the guilty plea, and thereafter he entered a guilty plea.

After hearing the testimony in the case for the purpose of establishing the degree of…