Britain v. State

In Britain v. State, 497 P.2d 543 (Wyo. 1972), the defendant claimed his guilty plea was not voluntary because he entered it to avoid the prosecution of his wife and son. We never reached the issue because we found the district court failed to comply with W.R.Cr.P. 15's (now W.R.Cr.P 11) requirements to address the defendant personally to determine that the plea was voluntary with an understanding of the nature of the charge and the consequences of the plea. On that basis, the Court remanded the case with instructions to set aside the defendant's plea and permit him to enter a new plea. Of relevance to the issue currently before us, however, the Court said: The fact that the attorneys resolved matters as they did [i.e., with the prosecutor's promise not to prosecute other family members] in this case does not in and of itself prove that defendant's plea was involuntary." Britain, 497 P.2d at 544.