Commonwealth v. Earl

On April 19, 1974, after the defendant had pleaded guilty to three indictments, a Superior Court judge sentenced the defendant to three concurrent life sentences to be served from and after any sentence he was then serving. On March 2, 1981, the defendant filed a motion to withdraw his guilty pleas. A hearing on the motion was held before a different Superior Court judge (the motion judge) because the judge who had taken the guilty pleas (the plea judge) had retired. The motion judge concluded that the defendant’s pleas of guilty were voluntary and denied the defendant’s motion to withdraw…