Rolfes v. State

CLEMENS, Judge.

John Rolfes (hereafter “defendant”) has appealed the trial court’s judgment denying his Rule 27.26 motion to vacate sentence following an evidentiary hearing. The pertinent ground raised in the motion is that defendant’s guilty plea was not voluntarily and intelligently made because he was not informed, and did not then know, of his trial right to avoid self-incrimination by remaining silent.

Defendant, a 22-year-old first-time offender, pled guilty to stealing over fifty dollars, sale of a controlled substance and tampering with a motor vehicle. Before accepting his pleas, the…