UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT DECISIONS ON-LINE

Arrested on a charge of murder, petitioner was taken before a Maryland magistrate for a preliminary hearing, and he pleaded guilty without having the advice or assistance of counsel. Counsel was later appointed for him, and he pleaded not guilty at his formal "arraignment," but the plea of guilty made at the preliminary hearing was introduced in evidence at his trial, and he as convicted and sentenced to death.

Held: absence of counsel for petitioner when he entered the plea of guilty before the magistrate violated his rights under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Hamilton v. Alabama, 368 U. S. 52. Pp. 373 U. S. 59-60.

227 Md. 615, 177 A.2d 877, reversed.