36
Opinion of the Court
We said that the federal habeas courts in Lonberger were bound to respect the contents of the record of the prior plea proceeding, the state trial court's findings that the defendant was "an intelligent individual, well experienced in the criminal processes and well represented at all stages of the proceedings by competent and capable counsel," the similar conclusions of the state appellate court, and "inferences fairly deducible from these facts." Lonberger, supra, at 435 (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Sumner v. Mata, 449 U. S. 539, 545-547 (1981) (deference owed to findings of both state trial and appellate courts).
We note that petitioner's theory of the case, which we have declined to consider, suggests a different standard. If Kentucky's procedure is indeed not constitutionally mandated, the Kentucky courts' determination that respondent understood his rights when he entered his plea would seem to be reviewable at most for sufficiency of the evidence under Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (1979). There is no need to choose between the two standards of review in this case, however, because we are convinced that the Kentucky courts' factual determinations are "fairly supported by the record" within the meaning of 28 U. S. C. § 2254(d)(8).
The Kentucky Court of Appeals, reviewing the trial court's decision not to suppress the 1981 conviction, observed that respondent had an 11th grade education, could read adequately, was represented by counsel in the 1981 proceedings, and was in no way mentally impaired when he entered his plea. The court noted that respondent had signed a form specifying the charges to which he agreed to plead guilty. And it found that he had been fully advised of his rights in 1979. Respondent does not now dispute those determinations. The Kentucky Court of Appeals inferred that respondent remained aware in 1981 of the rights of which he was advised in 1979. Supporting that inference was the court's determination, based on respondent's testimony at the trial court hearing, that his "knowledge and sophistica-
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