Edwards v. State

Thompson, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. William Frederick Edwards, the appellant, was sentenced to a term of nine years after pleading guilty to robbery in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County, Judge Ernest A. Loveless presiding. On appeal, he contends that the plea was involuntary, and, therefore, the trial judge should have permitted its withdrawal. Although Maryland has long followed the rule, recently enunciated by the Supreme Court, that there is reversible error where the record does not disclose that the defendant voluntarily and understanding^ entered his guilty plea, Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U. S. 238 , 89 Sup.

Ct. 1709, 23 L.Ed.2d 274 (1969), this record shows clearly that the plea was voluntary. Maryland authorities are collected in Church v. State, 5 Md. App. 642 , 248 A. 2d 907 and Cooper v. State, 5 Md. App. 638 , 248 A. 2d 905 . It is contended that the plea was involuntary because of two factors: (1) Edwards had an I.Q. of 76, and (2) the State’s Attorney agreed to nolle prosequi other counts in the indictment in return for the guilty plea. We will discuss each of the contentions separately.

In Cooper v. State, supra and Church v. State, supra, we decided that persons with only a seventh grade education would not be held incapable of entering a guilty plea on that issue alone; and we do not think an I.Q. of 76 would make for a different rule, particularly since the pre-sentence report showed that Edwards completed the eighth grade of a military academy with a 75 average grade. ³²⁹ Edwards argues that since one of