State v. Breckenridge

DURHAM, Justice:

The defendant appeals from a denial of his motion to set aside his plea of guilty to a charge of arson. The dispositive question is whether a conviction based on a plea may stand where there is no record of facts showing that the charged crime was actually committed by the defendant, or that the defendant has for some other legitimate reason intelligently and voluntarily entered such a plea. See North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 91 S.Ct. 160, 27 L.Ed.2d 162 (1970). We reverse.

Before noon on July 2, 19/32, Bryan Breckenridge was at his job at the Larson Ford body shop,…