In re J.M.

J.M., a fourteen-year-old mentally retarded juvenile, appeals from a competency finding and conditional plea entered in the Caledonia Family Court. J.M. raises two issues on appeal. First, he claims that the court erred, in violation of V.R.Cr.P. 11 and his constitutional right to due process of law, in accepting a plea without determining whether he understood the nature of the charge, the penalties, and the rights he was waiving; whether the admission was knowing and voluntary; and whether there was an underlying factual basis for the plea. The State concedes that the court failed to comply…