Mason v. Commonwealth

Opinion

MOON, J.

We hold that once a defendant has entered a plea of not guilty, he is entitled to have the jury pass upon his guilt or innocence even though he admits his guilt during his own testimony. Therefore, we reverse the conviction of William Mason because the trial judge threatened to change Mason’s plea of not guilty to a plea of guilty and to sentence Mason without the intervention of the jury if Mason, in his testimony before the jury, admitted his guilt by acknowledging proof of all of the elements of the offense for which he was on trial.

On November 21, 1990, undercover Officer…