Ex Parte Lawley

This Court granted this petition for certiorari to review petitioner's claim that when he entered a plea of guilty to a charge of murder his counsel told him he would be eligible for parole within 54 months, and that in fact he was not eligible for parole within that time, and that he would not have entered a plea of guilty had he known the facts, and that his counsel was ineffective in advising him about his rights.

Petitioner, Gerald Wayne Lawley, pleaded guilty to a charge of murder on April 9, 1984, and was sentenced by the Circuit Court of Shelby County to 25 years in the penitentiary. He…