A plea of guilty is thought to be a non-entity when it comes to civil law. For a person to enter a guilty plea, there must be an affirmative answer when any questioning concerning the guilt is brought forward to the defendant by the court in a criminal case. Once the guilt has been admitted to by a plea of guilty, the trial can be declared as finished and the defendant sentenced. The plea of guilty must be entered by the defendant just as it was in the noted 1938 Supreme Court case, with knowledge, intelligence, and on voluntary terms. A court reporter makes note of what is said during the hearing that decides the plea of guilty. A transcript is made of the hearing, which goes into this case's permanent record that is filed away for safekeeping.