Office of the Revisor of Statutes
MINNESOTA COURT RULES
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
APPENDIX C TO MINN. R. CRIM. P. 15
| STATE OF MINNESOTA | IN DISTRICT COURT |
| COUNTY OF_ | _JUDICIAL DISTRICT |
| _ | |
| State of Minnesota, | PETITION TO ENTER |
| Plaintiff, | PLEA OF GUILTY BY |
| vs. | PRO SE DEFENDANT |
| _, | |
| Defendant. | |
| _ | |
TO: THE ABOVE NAMED COURT
I, _______________, defendant in the above-entitled action do respectfully represent and state as follows:
1. My full name is _______________. I am ___ years old. My date of birth is _______________. The last grade that I went through in school is _____.
2. If filed in my case, I have received and read a copy of the (Indictment)(Complaint).
3. I understand the charge made against me in this case.
4. Specifically, I understand that I have been charged with the crime of __________ committed on or about __________ (month) __________ (day) ____ (year) in __________ County, Minnesota, (and that the crime I am talking about is _____________ which is a lesser degree or lesser included offense of the crime charged).
5a. I understand that I have an absolute right to have an attorney represent me at any stage of these proceedings, including a guilty plea.
b. I have read over and completed a Petition to Proceed as Pro Se Counsel (Form 11) and provided that Petition to the Court on ____________________.
c. I have been advised of the nature of the charges and statutory offenses included in the charges against me, the maximum sentence permitted, the possible defenses, mitigating circumstances, and other relevant facts so that I understand the advantages and disadvantages of waiving my right to an attorney.
d. Knowing the consequences of giving up my right to counsel, I waive my right to be represented by an attorney during the entry of my guilty plea.
6. I (have) (have not) been a patient in a mental hospital.
7. I (have) (have not) talked with or been treated by a psychiatrist or other person for a nervous or mental condition.
8. I (have) (have not) been ill recently.
9. I (have) (have not) recently been taking pills or other medicines.
10. I (do) (do not) make the claim that I was so drunk or so under the influence of drugs or medicine that I did not know what I was doing at the time of the crime.
11. I (do) (do not) make the claim that I was acting in self-defense or merely protecting myself or others at the time of the crime.
12. I (do) (do not) make the claim that the fact that I have been held in jail since my arrest and could not post bail caused me to decide to plead guilty in order to get the thing over with rather than waiting for my turn at trial.
13. I (was) (was not) represented by an attorney when I (had a probable cause hearing.) (If I have not had a probable cause hearing.)
a. I know that I could now move that the complaint against me be dismissed for lack of probable cause and I know that if I do not make such a motion and go ahead with entering my plea of guilty, I waive all right to successfully object to the absence of a probable cause hearing.
b. I also know that I waive all right to successfully object to any errors in the probable cause hearing when I enter my plea of guilty.
14. I understand:
a. That the prosecutor for the case against me, has:
i. physical evidence obtained as a result of searching for and seizing the evidence;
ii. evidence in the form of statements, oral or written that I made to police or others regarding this crime;
iii. evidence discovered as a result of my statements or as a result of the evidence seized in a search;
iv. identification evidence from a lineup or photographic identification;
v. evidence the prosecution believes indicates that I committed one or more other crimes.
b. That I have a right to a pre-trial hearing before a judge to determine whether or not the evidence the prosecution has could be used against me if I went to trial in this case.
c. That if I requested such a pre-trial hearing I could testify at the hearing if I wanted to, but my testimony could not be used as substantive evidence against me if I went to trial and could only be used against me if I was charged with the crime of perjury. (Perjury means testifying falsely.)
d. That I (do) (do not) now request such a pre-trial hearing and I specifically (do) (do not) now waive my right to have such a pre-trial hearing.
e. That whether or not I have had such a hearing I will not be able to object tomorrow or any other time to the evidence that the prosecutor has.
15. I understand:
a. That if I wish to plead not guilty I am entitled to a trial by a jury on the issue of guilt, and all jurors would have to agree I was guilty before the jury could find me guilty.
b. That if I plead guilty I will not have a trial by either a jury or by a judge without a jury.
c. That with knowledge of my right to a trial on the issue of guilt, I now waive my right to a trial.
16. I understand that if I wish to plead not guilty and have a trial by jury or trial by a judge I would be presumed innocent until my guilt is proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
17. I understand:
a. That if I wish to plead not guilty and have a trial the prosecutor would be required to have the witnesses testify against me in open court in my presence and that I would have the right to question these witnesses.
b. That with knowledge of my right to have the prosecution's witnesses testify in open court in my presence and questioned by me, I now waive this right.
18. I understand:
a. That if I wish to plead not guilty and have a trial I would be entitled to require any witnesses that I think are favorable to me to appear and testify at trial.
b. That with the knowledge of my right to require favorable witnesses to appear and testify at trial I now waive this right.
19. I understand:
a. That a person who has prior convictions or a prior conviction can be given a longer prison term because of this.
b. That the maximum penalty that the court could impose for this crime (taking into consideration any prior conviction or convictions) is imprisonment for ___ years. That if a minimum sentence is required by statute the court may impose a sentence of imprisonment of not less than ___ months for this crime.
c. That a person who participates in a crime by intentionally aiding, advising, counseling and conspiring with another person or persons to commit a crime is just as guilty of that crime as the person or persons who are present and participating in the crime when it is actually committed.
d. That my present probation or parole could be revoked because of the plea of guilty to this crime.
e. That if I am not a citizen of the United States, my plea of guilty to this crime may result in deportation, exclusion from admission to the United States or denial of naturalization as a United States citizen.
f. That the prosecutor is seeking an aggravated sentence of __________.
20. I understand:
a. That I have discussed this case with one of the prosecuting attorneys and that the prosecuting attorney and I agreed that if I entered a plea of guilty, the prosecutor will do the following:
(Give the substance of the agreement)
b. That if the court does not approve this agreement:
i. I have an absolute right to then withdraw my plea of guilty and have a trial.
ii. Any testimony that I have given concerning the guilty plea could not be used against me unless I am charged with the crime of perjury based on this testimony.
21. That except for the agreement between the prosecuting attorney and me:
a. No one - including any police officer, prosecutor, judge, or any other person - has made any promises to me, to any member of my family, to any of my friends or other persons, in order to obtain a plea of guilty from me.
b. No one - including any police officer, prosecutor or judge, or any other person - has threatened me or any member of my family or my friends or other persons, in order to obtain a plea of guilty from me.
22. I understand that if my plea of guilty is for any reason not accepted by the court, or if I withdraw the plea, with the court's approval, or if the plea is withdrawn by court order on appeal or other review:
a. I would then stand trial on the original charge (charges) against me, namely ____________________ (which would include any charges that were dismissed as a result of the plea agreement entered into by the prosecuting attorney and me.)
b. The prosecution could proceed against me just as if there had been no plea of guilty and no plea agreement.
23. I understand that if my plea of guilty is accepted by the judge I have the right to appeal, but that any appeal or other court action I may take claiming error in the proceedings probably would be useless and a waste of my time and the court's time.
24. I understand that a judge will not accept a plea of guilty for anyone who claims to be innocent.
25. I now make no claim that I am innocent.
26. I understand that if I wish to plead not guilty and have a jury trial:
a. That I could testify at trial if I wanted to, but I could not be forced to testify.
b. That if I decided not to testify neither the prosecutor nor the judge could comment on my failure to testify.
c. That with knowledge of my right not to testify and that neither the judge nor the prosecutor could comment on my failure to testify at trial I now waive this right and I will tell the judge about the facts of the crime.
27. That in view of all the above facts and considerations I wish to enter a plea of guilty.
| Dated this ___ day of __________, ____ |
| _ |
| DEFENDANT |
(Added effective for criminal actions commenced or arrests made after 12 o'clock midnight January 1, 1999; amended effective for all criminal actions commenced or arrests made after 12 o'clock midnight October 1, 2006.)