People v. Birdow

COUGHLIN, J.

The defendant killed a woman by stabbing her 51 times with an ice pick; was charged with murder; at all stages of the proceeding was represented by the public defender; upon advice of his counsel, waived a preliminary hearing and, in the superior court, entered pleas of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity; subsequently, was the subject of an examination by two court-appointed psychiatrists who found him to be legally sane but with the mentality of a moron; thereafter, upon advice and after numerous consultations with his counsel, withdrew his pleas of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity, and entered a plea of guilty of murder in the first degree; thereupon, was sentenced to life imprisonment in the state prison; a year and a half later, moved the trial court for

“a

writ in the nature of a Writ of ERROR CORAM NOBIS to reverse, set aside, annul and vacate the final judgment” which had resulted in his imprisonment; concurrently, moved the court for an order directing his removal from prison and delivery to the courtroom for attendance upon the hearing of the former motion; and appeals from the orders of the court deny-

[587]

ing both, motions. The motions were made by the defendant in propria persona. On appeal he is represented by counsel appointed by this court.

His petition for writ of error

coram nobis

urged two grounds,

viz.:

(1) That he was denied due process of law because no preliminary hearing was held; and (2) that his plea of guilty was entered through mistake and ignorance attributable to a lack of effective counsel. On its face the first ground obviously is without merit, and no contention is made with respect thereto on appeal. The only issue presented to this court concerns the claim that the defendant wrongfully was induced to enter a plea of guilty in that he was ignorant of the effect of entering such a plea, because of his limited intelligence and the

“pro forma”