People v. Edwards
People v. Edwards
Opinion of the Court
Defendant was convicted, on a plea of guilty, of statutory rape, MCLA 750.520; MSA 28.788, and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
On appeal, the defendant contends that the acceptance of his plea was constitutionally infirm
Each of the rights treated in People v Jaworski, 387 Mich 21 (1972), was affirmatively explained to the defendant, in the presence of his counsel. In each statement of constitutional rights, the court asked, "do you understand that?”, and the defendant answered, "Yes”. When the court asked, "knowing what your rights are * * * do you wish to enter a plea?”, and the defendant answered, "Yes”.
Jaworski requires only thát waiver of the enumerated rights cannot be presumed when the record is silent as to whether the defendant was made aware of these rights. Here, defendant was clearly and carefully informed of his constitutional rights and indicated an awareness of them by his affirmative and unequivocal answers. This is all that was required. People v Washington, 43 Mich App 551 (1972). The defendant knowingly waived his constitutional (Jaworski) rights.
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.