[DOWNLOAD] "Blehm V. People" by Colorado Supreme Court * Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Blehm V. People
- Author : Colorado Supreme Court
- Release Date : January 23, 1991
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 57 KB
Description
The defendant, Larry Eugene Blehm, unsuccessfully appealed his conviction of second degree burglary of a dwelling and his adjudication of habitual criminality to the court of appeals. In affirming the judgment, the court of appeals in People v. Blehm, 791 P.2d 1177 (Colo. App. 1989), held that Blehm's prior Colorado felony convictions based on pleas of guilty and nolo contendere could constitute valid predicates for an habitual criminal adjudication even though Blehm previously had been adjudicated insane in other criminal proceedings and had not been formally restored to sanity when the pleas were entered. The court of appeals also held that Florida law prohibited a defendant from pleading guilty or nolo contendere subsequent to an adjudication of insanity but prior to any formal restoration to sanity and that, solely on the basis of that Florida rule of substantive law, two of Blehm's Florida convictions resulting from pleas of guilty and nolo contendere were constitutionally involuntary and hence inadmissible in the Colorado habitual criminal proceeding. The court of appeals went on to affirm Blehm's conviction for second degree burglary of a dwelling and his adjudication as an habitual criminal because the trial record established the constitutional validity of at least three of his prior felony convictions. We agree with that part of the court of appeals' decision which holds that a defendant's prior insanity adjudication does not render the defendant incompetent as a matter of law to enter a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to a Colorado felony charge subsequent to the insanity adjudication but prior to any formal restoration to sanity. We disagree, however, with that part of the court of appeals' decision which relies on Florida substantive law as the sole standard for determining the constitutional admissibility of a prior conviction in a Colorado habitual criminal proceeding. Because we are satisfied that the record clearly establishes the constitutional validity of at least three of Blehm's prior felony convictions, we affirm the judgment of the court of appeals.