People v. Prater

On January 5, 1971, defendant-appellant Steven Prater and Neil Buchanan (who does not join in this appeal) were indicted for theft and burglary. On March 8, both defendants appeared with counsel for a hearing on a motion to suppress evidence. At this time defendant Prater, through his attorney, declined to participate in the hearing on the motion.

On March 13, 1972, defendant withdrew his plea of not guilty and entered a plea of guilty. He was sentenced to an indeterminate term of 1 to 10 years in the penitentiary.

Defendant urges that his plea was invalid because the trial judge failed to…