Commonwealth v. Foster

Some five months after the decision of Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U. S. 238 (June 2, 1969), the defendant in the present case, Robert Foster, after standing jury trial for two days in the Superior Court for Bristol County, changed his pleas and pleaded guilty to indictments for assault with intent to murder, assault with intent to commit rape, and unarmed robbery. The presiding judge, in accepting the guilty pleas, made no inquiry whether the defendant was entering his pleas voluntarily or knowingly; indeed, the only interrogation at the time was by the clerk of court, as follows: Q. “Indictment…