In re Anthony Bridger

¶ 34. For many reasons, I dissent. The majority holds that for a plea to be voluntary, Vermont Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(f) requires "some recitation on the record of the facts underlying the charge and some admission by the defendant to those facts." Ante, ¶ 21.8 The majority does not address the history of Rule 11(f), its plain language, or the unvaried federal case law decided under the identical rule, none of which supports the unduly rigid interpretation of Rule 11(f) that the majority adopts. The majority also assumes the answer to a threshold, but unaddressed, question of whether…