Cite as: 506 U. S. 20 (1992)
Blackmun, J., concurring in judgment
tion regarding his rights under our judicial system increased substantially after his first conviction." App. to Pet. for Cert. A32. Respondent knew, for example, the difference between first- and second-degree persistent felony offender charges, and he knew the sentencing and parole requirements for both offenses. "[H]e indicated that the evidence against him and his lack of a strong defense had persuaded him to accept the Commonwealth's offered plea bargain in return for a recommendation that he be given a minimum sentence. In fact, he voluntarily and knowingly chose not to risk the uncertainties of a jury trial." Id., at 32-33.
We have previously treated evidence of a defendant's prior experience with the criminal justice system as relevant to the question whether he knowingly waived constitutional rights, see, e. g., Lonberger, supra, at 437; Gryger v. Burke, 334 U. S., at 730, and we think the Kentucky Court of Appeals fairly inferred that respondent understood the full consequences of his 1981 plea. That, combined with respondent's admission that he understood the charges against him and his self-serving testimony that he simply could not remember whether the trial judge advised him of other rights, satisfied every court that has considered the issue that the government carried its burden of persuasion under the Kentucky framework. We cannot say that this was error.
The judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is accordingly
Reversed.
Justice Blackmun, concurring in the judgment.
I agree that Kentucky's burden-shifting procedures established in Dunn v. Commonwealth, 703 S. W. 2d 874, 876 (Ky. 1985), cert. denied, 479 U. S. 832 (1986), are constitutional under the Due Process Clause and that the Court of Appeals erred in concluding that the Commonwealth had the burden of establishing by clear and convincing evidence that the prior guilty pleas complied with Boykin v. Alabama,
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