State v. Johnson

Petitioner is seeking to vacate his 1956 conviction as an habitual criminal on the ground that one of the prior convictions upon which that conviction was based was void.

In 1944, petitioner pleaded guilty to burglary and larceny. This 1944 conviction was one of the four prior convictions set out in petitioner’s 1956 indictment for being an habitual criminal. Relying upon Gideon v. Wainwright (1963), 372 U. S. 335, 9 L. Ed. 2d 799, petitioner contends *44that his 1944 conviction was void because he pleaded guilty without having been advised of his right to an attorney, and, therefore, did not…