State v. Sims

Miller, Justice:

Paul Sims, after pleading guilty to first degree murder, contends that he was coerced into the plea as a result of the trial court’s ruling in connection with the felony-murder rule.

The claimed coercion occurred when the trial court ruled preliminarily to the trial that as a matter of law Sims’ defense of an accidental discharge of his shotgun during the commission of a burglary would not permit the jury to reduce the crime below first degree murder. We refuse to overturn the guilty plea.

The operative facts are these: Around 2:00 a.m. on January 16, 1976, the defendant Paul…