United States v. Melvin C. WetterlinUnited States v. Melvin C. Wetterlin
Defendant-appellant Wetterlin was indicted for his participation in a scheme which allegedly involved the unlawful taking by himself and others,
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including public officials and contractors, of more than two million dollars from a public works project in East Chicago. On January 31, 1977, after entering into negotiations with the government,
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Mr. Wetterlin entered pleas of guilty to Counts I and X of the indictment. In February the government sought to have the plea revoked, which the defendant resisted. The court permitted the plea to stand.
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Subsequently the defendant obtained new counsel who challenged the procedures employed by the court at the January plea hearing, alleging that they failed to comply with the procedural requirements for accepting a guilty plea mandated by
Specifically, defendant Wetterlin argues that the court did not comply with
I. COUNT I
A. Advice Concerning the Nature of the Charge.
The Supreme Court has stated that because a plea of guilty is itself a conviction, it “shall not be accepted unless made volun
In Count I the defendant and six others were charged with a complex conspiracy involving the use of the mails in furtherance of a scheme to defraud the East Chicago, Indiana, Board of Sanitary Commissioners and the citizens of that district, as well as the use of interstate and foreign commerce with the intent to bribe public officials. The charge of “conspiracy” is not a self-explanatory legal term or so simple in meaning that it can be expected or assumed that a lay person understands it. That is particularly true of the conspiracy charge in this case, which took up 25 pages, involved 48 paragraphs and 64 overt acts. However, the district judge failed to ever mention at the time of the plea hearing the nature of the charges in Count I, even, to describe it generally as a conspiracy. The judge made no effort to explain the law of conspiracy generally or by reference to the specific charge of this case, nor did he personally inquire and determine that the defendant understood the nature of the charges.
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Particularly under the circumstances of this case involving a complex conspiracy, we feel the judge should not have assumed that the defendant already knew and understood what the charges were, but rather the court should have assumed he was ignorant of the charges and thus used the hearing to inform the defendant “of some aspects of legal argot and other legal concepts that are esoteric to an accused.”
United States v. Coronado,
We hasten to add that this colloquy between the judge and the defendant as to the nature of the charges will vary from case to case, depending on the peculiar facts of each situation, looking to both the complexity of the charges and the personal characteristics of the defendant, such as his age, education, intelligence, the alacrity of his responses, and also whether he is represented by counsel.
Irizarry v. United States,
B. The Factual Basis for Count I.
Even though we have already determined that it is necessary to vacate the guilty plea as to Count I because of the failure to comply with
In the present case, after the defendant had been given the
The government, however, also argues that if the factual basis cannot be found on the record at the time of acceptance of the plea, this does not make a plea invalid, since, according to
The Advisory Committee comments and various cases interpreting this aspect of the rule indicate that it is permissible for the district judge .to consider and look to more than the defendant’s responses to the court’s questions to determine whether there is a factual basis for the plea.
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However, the rule requires that whatever the judge considers in making this determination must appear
on the record,
and what is on the record in the instant case, regardless of whether the June 27,1977, hearing is also considered, is insufficient to establish the factual basis for the plea. In addition we interpret the rule to require that a district judge shall not
accept
a guilty plea until he has determined that there is a
Accordingly, we find that the judge also failed to establish on the record the factual basis for the conspiracy plea and thus the noncompliance with
II. COUNT X
In Count X, the defendant was charged with “knowingly making material false declarations” while under oath before the grand jury in violation of
A. Advice as to the Nature of the Charges.
It should be obvious that when a defendant pleads guilty to more than one charge at a plea hearing
B. The Factual Basis for Count X.
In September, 1975 the defendant had appeared before the grand jury. During his appearance he was asked “[D]id you ever travel in interstate or foreign commerce to transport proceeds illegally obtained from the Water Pollution Project?” The indictment charged that his “No” response was a “knowingly false” declaration in violation of
CONCLUSION
Accordingly, for the reasons given above, we hold that the district court failed to comply with the requirements of
Notes
. Of the others named in the indictment, five (Messrs. Fitzgerald, Kovach, Leahu, Schubert, Hamilton) went to trial and were found guilty. Their convictions have been affirmed by this court on appeal.
United States v. Fitzgerald,
No. 77-1524,
. As a result of those negotiations, the defendant agreed to plead guilty to Counts I and X of the indictment, and to four counts of failure to file income tax returns (misdemeanors). The defendant agreed to cooperate with the government and to testify at any proceeding relating to the case. In exchange the government agreed to drop all remaining counts of the , indictment, agreed that its recommendation as to sentencing would be limited to opposing probation, and agreed to make the extent of the defendant’s cooperation known to the sentencing judge.
While the court accepted the guilty pleas entered by Wetterlin at the January hearing, it indicated that it was reserving ruling on the petition, which included the plea agreement, and referred it to the probation office for a presentence report.
The defendant also alleges no error in regard to the guilty pleas on the four misdemeanor counts.
. The government’s petition to revoke the plea has not been made part of the record. The government in its brief indicates it became dissatisfied with Mr. Wetterlin’s cooperation, and sought either to have the plea revoked or for the court to make further inquiry into the factual basis for the plea. The defendant argued that the government had no standing to challenge the factual basis for the plea on Count I. Further, that he had stated facts from which the court had determined that there was factual basis for the plea. He also argued that if the government felt he was not answering truthfully its recourse was to indict him for perjury. At a hearing held by the court on the government’s motion, the court indicated that it felt there was a factual basis for the plea, and that it was denying the motion. The court also secured from Wetterlin’s attorney the assurance that there was no “intention ... at this time, or in the foreseeable future, to question the basis of his plea.”
. The government also argues that defendant’s failure to move to withdraw his plea until the June 29 hearing is proof of defendant’s “calculated gamesmanship of the worst form.” However, the record indicates that defendant made his attack on the plea for failure to comply with
. The sections of
ADVICE TO DEFENDANT. Before accepting a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, the court must address the defendant personally in open court and inform him of, and determine that he understands the following:
(1) the nature of the charge to which the plea is offered, the mandatory minimum penalty provided by law, if any, and the maximum possible penalty provided by law; and
(2) if the defendant is not represented by an attorney, that he has the right to be represented by an attorney at every stage of the proceeding against him and, if necessary, one will be appointed to represent him; and
(3) that he has the right to plead not guilty or to persist in that plea if it has already been made, and that he has the right to be tried by a jury and at that trial has the right to the assistance of counsel, the right to confront and cross-examine witnesses against him, and the right not to be compelled to incriminate himself; and
(4) that if he pleads guilty or nolo contendere there will not be a further trial of any kind, so that by pleading guilty or nolo contendere he waives the right to a trial; and
(5) that if he pleads guilty or nolo conten-dere, the court may ask him questions about the offense to which he has pleaded, and if he answers these questions under oath, on the record, and in the presence of counsel, his answers may later be used against him in a prosecution for perjury or false statement.
(f) DETERMINING ACCURACY OF PLEA. Notwithstanding the acceptance of a plea of guilty, the court should not enter a judgment upon such a plea without making such inquiry as shall satisfy it that there is a factual basis for the plea.
(g) RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS. A verbatim record of the proceedings at which the defendant enters a plea shall be made and, if there is a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, the record shall include, without limitation, the court’s advice to the defendant, the inquiry into the voluntariness of the plea including any plea agreement, and the inquiry into the accuracy of a guilty plea.
. We are not persuaded by the government’s argument that because the defendant waived the reading of the indictment at the plea hearing, the judge was relieved of his duty under
. The government urges this court to look to the plea petition to find that this requirement has been met. Initially we note, see n.2, that the contents of this petition were not disclosed on the record at the plea hearing and that although the guilty plea was accepted, the district judge reserved ruling on the petition. One of the statements in the petition read: “I have received a copy of the indictment and have read and discussed it with my lawyer and believe and feel that I understand every accusation made against me. . . . My lawyer has informed me ... as to the nature and cause of every accusation against me.” The court inquired of the defendant whether he had signed the petition, but never specifically referred to these statements and did not personally inquire or determine of the defendant that he understood the charges, which is what the rule requires. For the defendant to merely state that he believes he understands provides no basis from which the court could conclude that he does in fact understand the charges. This is particularly true here since neither in the petition nor at the hearing does the defendant ever set forth what was his understanding
. The government points to the inconsistency of defendant’s present position in attacking the factual basis for the plea on Count I, noting his earlier resistance to the government’s motion to revoke the plea, challenging its factual basis. The government argues this indicates that he is engaging in “pure calculated gamesmanship,” which should not be condoned by this court.
See
also n.3,
supra.
We note, however, that the government itself has taken an inconsistent position in regard to this very issue as evidenced by its earlier attack and its current defense of the factual basis for Count I. While we do not approve of “game playing” and do not condone actions which appear to be a deliberate effort to manipulate proceedings to one’s advantage by changing positions, we do not feel that was done here. The defendant indicates he resisted the government’s earlier move because he saw it as attempted retaliation by the government for what it claimed was his uncooperativeness. The government in its brief indicates his lack of cooperation was the cause of the motion. Apparently, it was an attack on the factual basis only in the sense that it appeared to the government that Mr. Wetterlin’s unwillingness to admit to certain behavior was inconsistent with his guilty plea. This should have alerted the court to the necessity of re-examining the conduct which the defendant admitted and to the possible need for further questioning of the defendant to erase any doubts as to the factual basis for the plea. We do not feel, however, that this incident prevented the defendant from later raising the
. The 1966 Advisory Committee Note states: “The court should satisfy itself, by inquiry of the defendant or the attorney for the government, or by examining the presentence report, or otherwise, that the conduct which the defendant admits constitutes the offense charged. . ."
The Second Circuit in
Irizarry v. United States,
Professor Moore states that “the incorporation of this ‘escape hatch’ in the Rule does not relieve the judge of making the inquiries required at the time the plea is taken.” 8 Moore’s Federal Practice f| 11.03[3] at 11-73.
. This could include admissions made by the defendant to the probation officer and recorded in the presentence report, and conceivably even testimony the defendant has given in another trial, but it is clear that whatever the court is relying on to establish the factual basis must be specifically articulated on the record in order to comply with the purpose of the rule which is to provide a complete record to facilitate review in any subsequent post-conviction proceeding.
McCarthy v. United States, supra,