Brady v. United States
- Decided
- May 4, 1970
- Docket
- 270
- Status
- Published
- Jurisdiction
- Federal
Cited 7,191 timesNo negative treatment found in this library
What later courts said
- holding that fear of greater punishment cannot constitute kind of coercion that renders plea involuntary — State v. Trackwell (1996)
- holding that hard choices made in the course of plea bargaining do not invalidate a guilty plea — People v. Medina (2001)
- holding that a defendant must have “sufficient awareness of the relevant circumstances and likely consequences” of his guilty plea — United States v. Joe Louis McIntosh (2007)
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 White delivered the opinion of the Court.
In 1959, petitioner was charged with kidnaping in violation of 18 U. S. C. § 1201 (a). [1]
Since the indictment charged that the victim of the kidnaping was not liberated unharmed, petitioner faced a maximum penalty of death if the verdict of the jury should so recommend. Petitioner, represented by competent counsel throughout, first elected to plead not guilty. Apparently because the trial judge was unwilling to try the case without a jury, petitioner made no serious attempt to reduce the possibility of a death penalty by waiving a jury trial. Upon learning that his codefendant, who had confessed to the authorities, would plead guilty and be available to testify against him, petitioner changed his plea to guilty. His plea was accepted after the trial judge twice questioned him as to the voluntariness of his plea. [2] [*744] Petitioner was sentenced to 50 years’ imprisonment, later reduced to 30.
Statutes cited
Cite this
Brady v. United States, 397 U.S. 742 (1970)Read the full opinion
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