State v. Ballard

This cause presents a recurring question of what is required of a trial judge when accepting a guilty plea or a plea of no contest from a criminal defendant. Here, the appellant challenges the validity of his guilty plea because of the trial court’s alleged failure to inform him that by pleading guilty he was waiving his right to a trial by jury. Appellant, in effect, argues that the trial court did not comply in this regard with the mandate of either Crim. R. 11(C) or Boykin v. Alabama (1969), 395 U.S. 238.

Crim. R. 11 provides, in pertinent part:

“(C) Pleas of guilty and no contest in felony…