United States v. Sara Jane Moore

On December 16, 1975, the appellant, Sara Jane Moore, entered a plea of guilty to attempting to murder Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States. She was sentenced to life imprisonment. On April 15, 1977, Moore petitioned the district court to set aside her plea and vacate her sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 and Rule 11, Fed.R.Crim.Pro. The court denied relief whereupon Moore filed this appeal. Moore argues that her plea was involuntarily made; that she was incompetent to plead guilty; that her counsel was ineffective; and, that the court abused its discretion in accepting her plea and in sentencing her to life imprisonment. We have carefully reviewed the entire record on appeal and, for the reasons stated below, we reject Moore’s arguments.

Sara Jane Moore was arrested on September 22, 1975, for attempting to murder President Ford. Shortly after Moore’s arrest the court ordered Moore to be examined in order to determine her competency to stand trial. On November 17, 1975, the court, after hearing, ruled that Moore was competent to stand trial. The trial date was set for December 15, 1975. Defense counsel objected to the early trial date but the date was left at…