Opinion ID: 169616
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The In-Court Status Conference

Text: At the appointed time the following week, Mr. Cano-Varela appeared in court with his attorney. The court asked defense counsel for an update on his discussions with his client. Counsel responded that Mr. Cano-Varela wanted new counsel for two reasons: he doesn't particularly like the plea agreement, and he has not been able to review his discovery in Spanish. R. Vol. V, at 5. Counsel explained that, through an interpreter, he had discussed at length with Mr. Cano the discovery, id., but had not provided Spanish translations because [t]he discovery basically is two inches of paper discovery . . . [and] approximately 15 or so CD ROM disks that you have to listen to on a computer, id. at 6. Counsel also told the court that we have a plea agreement from the prosecution. I have discussed that at length with Mr. Cano. He has asked me if I can get him a better deal than that, and I have informed him that the prosecution will not offer anything better than that. I've also informed him that if he chooses not to enter into that plea agreement with myself, the U.S. Attorney has informed me that they would not be offering a better deal to any other attorney. So I think Mr. Cano's position is that he hopes, I think, to obtain a better deal through another attorney which I don't think would happen, and/or wishes to proceed to trial with another attorney. However, again, I don't know if another attorney would be able to do anything further in regard to providing discovery to him than what has already been done. I have no problem continuing in representing Mr. Cano, whether he wants to proceed with trial and/or a plea agreement; but I will leave that up to him and the Court at this point. Id. at 6-7. The court asked the prosecutor what his position was on this point; he responded: I think we were all anticipating a plea agreement in this case, all but the signatures if you will. . . . . . . . [I]n anticipation of a plea agreement in this case, we did ask  I think [defense counsel] did on behalf of his client  for a re-arraignment and a change-of-plea hearing. Where we left off with that, Your Honor, is . . . we provided [defense counsel] and his client with a proposed plea agreement. The essence of that, not that it's particularly germane today, but I'll just share it with the Court so that Mr. Cano knows where we stand and the Court likewise knows where we stand. With  the proposal we've made is with respect to the  Count One, the conspiracy count; that he would plead guilty to that. We think we have very compelling evidence. . . . [W]e believe he reasonably falls within a Level 32 base offense level. . . . [And] that he is a Criminal History Category I. . . . Therefore, he is safety-valve-eligible but for cooperation with the United States. We've extended an offer for him to sit down with us so that he may be eligible for that further two-level enhancement [sic]. If you include three levels for acceptance of responsibility, Mr. Cano could get all the way down to about 70 months. On the flip side of the coin, if he goes to trial, Mr. Cano is at least a 32, with no acceptance, no safety valve, no 5K consideration, and he stands to do well over ten years. So that's the essence of the conversation. I'll reiterate what [defense counsel] said. We have given our final offer in the case. We've talked about this a number of times, and our position is this is as good and as reasonably well as we can do in terms of a proposal for Mr. Cano. THE COURT: And there's no prospect that a change of lawyer would change your attitude. Is that what you're telling me? PROSECUTOR: That is true, Your Honor. Id. at 7-9. Following this discussion, the court called the defendant and his lawyer to the stand and said: Mr. Cano, candidly my concern is that you're listening to jailhouse lawyers. I'm talking about people who are self-taught in the law who are, like you, incarcerated. I would respectfully suggest to you, sir, that if they were such good legal minds, they wouldn't be in jail in the first place. And my worry about your circumstance is that if the government's case is as compelling as the United States says it is and if your lawyer thinks it's prudent that you accept a deal that would allow you to perhaps get a much better, much lesser sentence than would otherwise be offered if you were found guilty and if you renege on that or decide not to go forward with the tentative deal reached with the government and are found guilty, you have very few options. You'll be doing at least ten years in a federal penitentiary. Now, there's always the prospect that you could be found not guilty if the jury found the evidence against you wanting. Your lawyer apparently is of the opinion that that is a high-risk approach and it is not likely to be successful. If he thought otherwise, he would not be recommending this kind of deal to you. Of course, at the end of the day, the decision to plead or not plead to a crime is your decision alone. You cannot be compelled to plead if you do not wish to do so, no matter what your lawyer thinks. If you want to stand on your right to a trial by jury, it's my obligation to make sure you get a jury. But if your desire to change lawyers is premised on the belief that your new lawyer would get a better deal than the current lawyer has been able to obtain from the government, the government's prosecutor in this case should have just disabused you of that notion. . . . . No doubt your lawyer has also told you that if you get this deal and if you do cooperate and if the government files a motion that you cooperated with them in the prosecution of other individuals and makes a motion for downward departure, that releases the judge from any obligation  it releases me from any obligation to impose a sentence  a mandatory minimum sentence or a sentence under the guideline range. I can sentence you in a way I deem appropriate, and your lawyer could argue that you're entitled to a couple more levels off for acceptance. But there's no such offer, and there'll be no opportunity to get this kind of a deal if a jury found you guilty. If the jury finds you guilty of the offense charged, then the sentence will, as [the prosecutor] said, be a harsh one. Now, the sentence that apparently is being proposed is certainly not a life sentence. I appreciate that. But you have to weigh the risks of trying a case versus pleading; and if you're satisfied  independently of your own lawyer, if you're satisfied that the government has sufficient evidence against you to prove the charges against you by proof beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury, then you need to be very careful about how you proceed from here. Id. at 10-12 (emphasis added). The court then told Mr. Cano-Varela that it wanted to have another conference with [him] on the record at the time of [his] re-arraignment, which was scheduled five days hence. Id. at 12. It continued: [I]f, at that time, you decide that you do not want to take a plea from the United States and you persist in your desire to change your lawyer and go to trial and if your lawyer seeks to be discharged from his responsibility of you, I will order a change of lawyer, and I will order the matter to proceed to trial, and I will not then again consider a change of plea. So the only chance you'll have to have a plea considered by me is [at your re-arraignment]. If you do not plead  and that's certainly your privilege  I'll appoint a new lawyer for you at that time and set the trial date. Id. at 12-13. After clarifying some procedural issues related to the upcoming re-arraignment, the court concluded the hearing by stating: All right, Mr. Cano. That's the way I'm going to approach it for today. I'd ask that you very carefully consider your options. These are fateful decisions. They're your decisions to make alone. Hopefully you'll make them in consultation with your lawyer, but in the final analysis it's your decision to make. If you want to go to trial, those arrangements will be made. If you want to plead in accordance with the terms of the deal offered to you by the United States, that will have to occur [at your re-arraignment]. If you, at that time, inform me at your re-arraignment that you do not want to plead, you can persist in your plea of not guilty, and I'll set a trial date at that time. PROSECUTOR: And that would be with a new attorney, Your Honor? THE COURT: Would be with a new attorney unless, of course, Mr. Cano for some reason had a change of heart and wanted to keep his present lawyer. Otherwise we'd appoint a new lawyer, but there will not be  I will not revisit a change of plea. I will not revisit a plea agreement. I can't stop the defendant from making a cold plea in open court in the middle of the trial, but I certainly do not have to consider a plea. So I'm putting both parties on notice of that right now. I see an unfortunate trend developing where people are suggesting that they not go forward with a plea. I had a young man last week who, for the second time, was offered a plea, and for the second time refused to enter a plea of guilty which is certainly his right, but I have spent all the time I'm going to on that young man's plea. Now he's going to have to let the jury assess his guilt or innocence. And that's where you are, Mr. Cano, and I certainly will respect any decision you make. Id. at 14-16.