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Britt v. Smith

The trial court's failure to inform defendant of his additional rights under Uniform Superior Court Rule 33.8 did not render his guilty plea constitutionally invalid.

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On December 8th , 1993, in Spalding County, Georgia, Victor Britt killed Mr. Milton Cochran, a store owner, by stabbing him 16 times in the chest and slashing his throat from ear to ear. When he was captured a short time later, he confessed to the authorities. Represented by competent and able counsel, he thereafter negotiated a plea bargain to avoid the State’s pursuit of the death penalty. He pled guilty to malice murder and to the commission of aggravated battery on a person over the age of 65. The trial court accepted the plea and imposed the bargained-for sentences. Britt petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus, challenging the constitutionality of his guilty plea. The habeas court denied relief. We granted Britt’s application for a certificate of probable cause to appeal, in order to determine whether the habeas court correctly concluded that he knowingly and voluntarily entered his guilty plea. Having considered the transcript of the guilty plea hearing and finding no constitutional violation, we affirm the denial of the petition.

At the guilty plea hearing, Britt’s attorney made the following statement:

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