People v. Stoner

The defendant, Larry Richard Stoner, was convicted of unarmed robbery 1 upon his plea of guilty. He appeals claiming that the trial court failed to comply with the requirements of the court rule 2 and of the statute 3 as elucidated in People v. Barrows (1959), 358 Mich 267. There the Michigan Supreme Court declared that as (p 272) “a precaution against involuntary or induced false pleas of guilty, and against subsequent false claims of innocence” a trial judge must by direct questioning of a guilty-pleading defendant both establish the crime and his participation in its commission. 4

The…