Boykin v. Alabama
- Decided
- June 2, 1969
- Docket
- 642
- Status
- Published
- Jurisdiction
- Federal
Cited 12,640 timesNo negative treatment found in this library
What later courts said
- holding that a guilty plea is an express waiver of the constitutional right to confrontation — United States v. Houlihan (1996)
- holding that due process requires state courts to make an affirmative showing that a guilty plea is intelligent and voluntary — Leeroy B. Bostic, Jr. v. Peter Carlson, Warden (1989)
- holding that guilty plea is invalid unless defendant makes affirmative showing on record that plea is knowing and voluntary — State v. Simon (1999)
Each line is a later court’s own words about this case, not a summary. Read the opinion before relying on it.
How the opinion begins
Mr. Justice Douglas delivered the opinion of the Court.
In the spring of 1966, within the period of a fortnight, a series of armed robberies occurred in Mobile, Alabama. The victims, in each case, were local shopkeepers open at night who were forced by a gunman to hand over money. While robbing one grocery store, the assailant fired his gun once, sending a bullet through a door into the ceiling. A few days earlier in a drugstore, the robber had allowed his gun to discharge in such a way that the bullet, on ricochet from the floor, struck a customer in the leg. Shortly thereafter, a local grand jury returned five indictments against petitioner, a 27-year-old Negro, for common-law robbery — an offense punishable in Alabama by death.
Before the matter came to trial, the court determined that petitioner was indigent and appointed counsel[1] to represent him. Three days later, at his arraignment, petitioner pleaded guilty to all five indictments. So far as the record shows, the judge asked no questions of petitioner concerning his plea, and petitioner did not address the court.
Cite this
Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238 (1969)Read the full opinion
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