1

The Honorable Robert W. Pratt, United States District Judge for the Southern

District of Iowa.

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 02-1010

___________

United States of America, *

*

Appellee, *

* Appeal from the United States

v. * District Court for the

* Southern District of Iowa.

Ramon Alcorta-Marufo, * [UNPUBLISHED]

*

Appellant. *

___________

Submitted: June 11, 2002

Filed: August 6, 2002

___________

Before WOLLMAN, RICHARD S. ARNOLD, and LOKEN, Circuit Judges.

___________

PER CURIAM.

Ramon Alcorta-Marufo pleaded guilty to illegally reentering the United States

following deportation upon commission of an aggravated felony, a violation of 8

U.S.C. §§ 1326(a) and 1326(b)(2). He appeals, contending that the district court1

violated Rule 11(c)(1) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure by failing to advise

him of the nature of the charge before accepting his plea. We affirm.
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I.

Alcorta-Marufo, a citizen of Mexico, was deported on May 22, 1998, after

being convicted of felony domestic violence. He reentered the United States on

March 28, 2001, and was arrested on July 28, 2001. He entered a plea of guilty on

September 17, 2001. 

In addition to discussing with him the other matters detailed in Rule 11, the

district court asked Alcorta-Marufo whether he had received a copy of the indictment

against him and whether he had had an opportunity to fully discuss the charges with

his lawyer. Alcorta-Marufo responded affirmatively to both questions, and he raised

no objections during the plea hearing or the sentencing hearing, following which he

was sentenced to 41 months’ imprisonment.

II.

“Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure requires a judge to

address a defendant about to enter a plea of guilty, to ensure that he understands the

law of his crime in relation to the facts of his case, as well as his rights as a criminal

defendant.” United States v. Vonn, 122 S. Ct. 1043, 1048 (2002). A claim that the

district court did not properly comply with Rule 11 is reviewed for plain error in

those cases in which the defendant did not raise an objection in the district court. Id.

122 S. Ct. at 1046. Such an error is grounds for reversal only if it “‘prejudices the

substantial rights of the defendant and would result in a miscarriage of justice if left

uncorrected.’” United States v. Perez, 270 F.3d 737, 739 (8th Cir. 2001), cert. denied,

122 S. Ct. 1336 (2002) (quoting United States v. Fountain, 83 F.3d 946, 949 (8th Cir.

1996)). “‘Plain error review is extremely narrow and is limited to those errors which

are so obvious or otherwise flawed as to seriously undermine the fairness, integrity,

or public reputation of judicial proceedings.’” Perez, 270 F.3d at 739 (quoting United

States v. Beck, 250 F.3d 1163, 1166 (8th Cir. 2001)).
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Alcorta-Marufo contends that the facts of his case are similar to those in

McCarthy v. United States, 394 U.S. 459 (1969). In McCarthy, however, the district

court failed to address the defendant personally regarding the defendant’s

understanding of the nature of the charges against him. Id. at 461-62. Here, the

district court addressed Alcorta-Marufo personally and, as indicated above, inquired

whether he had received a copy of the indictment and had had the opportunity to fully

discuss the charges with his lawyer, to which Alcorta-Marufo responded in the

affirmative. The district court also engaged in a lengthy discussion with AlcortaMarufo regarding the factual basis of his plea, the circumstances of which AlcortaMarufo acknowledged to be correct. Moreover, McCarthy was decided prior to the

adoption of Rule 11(h), which provides that “[a]ny variance from the procedures

required by this rule which does not affect substantial rights shall be disregarded.”

See Vonn, 122 S. Ct. at 1048. Finally, the fact that a defendant has been provided

with a copy of the indictment “give[s] rise to a presumption that the defendant was

informed of the nature of the charge against him.” Bousley v. United States, 523 U.S.

614, 618 (1998); Vonn, 122 S. Ct. at 1055.

We adopt the following approach when reviewing the type of Rule 11-violation

claim raised by Alcorta-Marufo:

In determining whether the defendant understood the nature of the

charges, it is necessary to “examine the totality of the circumstances.

We examine whether the indictment gave him notice of the charge,

whether he discussed the charge with his attorney or the judge, and we

look at any other facts which are in the record.” 

United States v. Marks, 38 F.3d 1009, 1011 (8th Cir. 1994) (quoting United States v.

Nieuwsma, 779 F.2d 1359, 1361 (8th Cir. 1985)). See also Vonn, 122 S. Ct. at 1055

(record information “outside the four corners of the transcript of the plea hearing and

Rule 11 colloquy” may be looked to in determining whether a Rule 11 violation

resulted in plain error).
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Alcorta-Marufo testified that he had received the indictment and had discussed

it with his attorney. He also agreed with the recitation of facts as stated by the district

court. Given the straightforward nature of the charge against Alcorta-Marufo, we

conclude that the totality of the circumstances indicate that no plain error resulted

from the manner in which in the district court conducted the Rule 11 colloquy. This

is not to say that district courts need not painstakingly comply with the detailed

requirements of Rule 11, but only that Alcorta-Marufo has not established that he

suffered any substantial prejudice to his substantial rights by the district court’s

failure to comply strictly with all of those requirements in this case.

The judgment is affirmed.

A true copy.

Attest:

CLERK, U.S. COURT OF APPEALS, EIGHTH CIRCUIT.