United States v. Christopher White, 694 F. App'x 356

Christopher White, an accountant, pleaded guilty under a written agreement to conspiracy to commit health-care fraud and falsifying records for services that led to over $2.2 million in Medicare losses.
Nine months after his plea, White moved to withdraw it, claiming he merely performed professional accounting services and asserting a "reasonable hypothesis of innocence."
The district court denied the first motion; White obtained new counsel and filed a second withdrawal motion.
The court denied the second motion without an evidentiary hearing, relying principally on White’s admissions at rearraignment and applying the Carr factors.
At sentencing the court granted a downward variance of 30 months and imposed concurrent 48-month terms on each count.
White appealed, arguing the court abused its discretion by denying plea withdrawal and by refusing an evidentiary hearing.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the district court abused its discretion in denying White's motion to withdraw his guilty plea	White argued his post-plea assertions of innocence and that his conduct was consistent with mere professional services justified withdrawal	Government relied on presumption of verity of White's in-court admissions and applied Carr factors showing withdrawal unjustified	No abuse of discretion; denial affirmed (court properly weighed Carr factors and found no fair and just reason to withdraw)
Whether the court erred by denying an evidentiary hearing on the second withdrawal motion	White contended factual disputes warranted a hearing where he could prove facts supporting withdrawal	Government argued White did not identify facts that, if proved, would justify relief; plea admissions are presumptively truthful so a hearing would not change outcome	No abuse of discretion; hearing unnecessary because defendant failed to allege sufficient facts that would justify relief and any error would be harmless

United States v. Carr, 740 F.2d 339 (5th Cir. 1984) (sets out multi-factor test for plea-withdrawal motions)
United States v. Powell, 354 F.3d 362 (5th Cir. 2003) (defendant bears burden to show fair and just reason to withdraw plea)
Blackledge v. Allison, 431 U.S. 63 (1977) (in-court guilty plea statements carry strong presumption of verity)
United States v. McKnight, 570 F.3d 641 (5th Cir. 2009) (affirming weight of affirmative in-court admissions)
United States v. Harrelson, 705 F.2d 733 (5th Cir. 1983) (standard for reviewing district court's decision not to hold hearing)
United States v. Mergist, 738 F.2d 645 (5th Cir. 1984) (hearing unnecessary unless defendant alleges facts which, if proved, would justify relief)