Pride v. Kemp

HUNSTEIN, Chief Justice.

We granted habeas corpus petitioner Elmer Pride a certificate of probable cause to address whether the habeas court erred by finding that Pride’s guilty plea was valid in light of the multiple statements made by the trial court during the plea proceedings in which the trial court informed Pride of the harsher sentence it would impose on Pride after a jury found him guilty of the charged crimes. Because we find that the judicial participation in Pride’s plea negotiations was so great as to render his guilty plea involuntary, we reverse.

The record reveals that appellant…