Smith v. State

Brailsford, Justice.

The petitioners, Willie J. Smith and James Weldon Smith, sought habeas corpus relief from sentences imposed *418on them in Darlington County on April 9, 1968, upon their entry of pleas of guilty to rape, contending that their pleas had been coerced by fear that a jury trial might result in the imposition of the death penalty. The circuit court concluded that petitioners were entitled to relief as a matter of law under the decision of the Supreme Court in United States v. Jackson, 390 U. S. 570, 88 S. Ct. 1209, 20 L. Ed. (2d) 138 (1968), and of this court, following that…