Opinion ID: 797828
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Alejandro Stevens's Motion to Suppress

Text: 19 Alejandro Stevens argues that the district court erred when it denied his motion to suppress because law enforcement officials obtained physical evidence from the Dana House and statements from him in violation of his Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights. The government responds that Alejandro Stevens entered into an unconditional guilty plea and therefore waived his right to appeal the district court's denial of his motion to suppress. 20 When a defendant enters a voluntary and unconditional guilty plea, the plea has the effect of waiving all nonjurisdictional defects in the prior proceedings. United States v. Wise, 179 F.3d 184, 186 (5th Cir.1999); United States v. Bell, 966 F.2d 914, 915 (5th Cir.1992). That waiver includes any further objection to evidence admitted pursuant to a district court's denial of a motion to suppress. Wise, 179 F.3d at 186. A defendant may enter a conditional guilty plea, however, and preserve the right to appeal a district court's adverse ruling on a pretrial motion. See FED.R.CRIM.P. 11(a)(2). Rule 11 provides that a conditional plea must be made in writing and consented to by the prosecution and the district court. See id.; see also Wise, 179 F.3d at 186. Rule 11(a)(2)'s requirements of government consent and court approval reflect that a defendant has no absolute right to plead conditionally. Wise, 179 F.3d at 187. The government and the court are free to reject a conditional plea for any reason or no reason at all. Bell, 966 F.2d at 916. 21 Rule 11(h) allows for variance from Rule 11(a)(2)'s technical conditional plea requirements when the variance does not affect substantial rights. FED.R.CRIM.P. 11(h). We have excused harmless variances under Rule 11(h) where the record clearly indicates that the defendant intended to enter a conditional guilty plea, that the defendant expressed the intention to appeal a particular pretrial ruling, and that neither the government nor the district court opposed such a plea. United States v. Santiago, 410 F.3d 193, 197 (5th Cir. 2005), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 126 S.Ct. 1565, 164 L.Ed.2d 303 (2006); accord Wise, 179 F.3d at 187 (allowing variance from Rule 11(a)(2) when the spirit of [Rule 11(a)(2) is] fulfilled by a clear indication on the record of the defendant's intention to appeal particular pretrial rulings, and the acquiescence of both the prosecution and the court). For example, in Santiago we excused a defendant's variance from Rule 11(a)(2)'s technical requirements and permitted an appeal where the record showed that the district judge acknowledged the defendant's reservation several times, the government withdrew its initial objections to the defendant's reservation, the government submitted a factual basis sheet with handwritten revisions stating that the defendant preserved his right to appeal, and the district judge stated at the rearraignment hearing that the defendant did not have to refer to the factual basis sheet in order to preserve his right to appeal. Santiago, 410 F.3d at 197-98. By contrast, in Wise we concluded that a defendant did not fulfill the spirit of Rule 11(a)(2) where the defendant's written plea agreement contained no reservation of any kind, at the plea hearing the district judge orally reviewed the terms of the unconditional plea agreement, and both the defendant and his lawyer confirmed that there was no other agreement between the defendant and the government. Wise, 179 F.3d at 187. 22 Alejandro Stevens concedes that when he pleaded guilty to Count Two in exchange for the government's dismissing Counts One and Three, he did not explicitly preserve his right to appeal the district court's denial of his motion to suppress in a written plea agreement in conformance with Rule 11(a)(2). He argues, however, that the record shows that he has fulfilled the spirit of Rule 11(a)(2) according to our decisions in Santiago and Wise. Alejandro Stevens points to two statements in the record as proof of his intention to enter into a conditional plea. First, in response to questioning from the district judge about the genesis of the plea agreement at the rearraignment hearing, the government's counsel stated that he presumed that Alejandro Stevens's attorney had approached the government about a plea to preserve Alejandro Stevens's right to appeal the ruling on his motion to suppress. Second, Alejandro Stevens's PSR incorporated his post-plea written statement that he accept[ed] responsibility for possession of marihuana seized . . . subject to his motion to suppress. Alejandro Stevens urges that these statements show that he and the government had a common understanding that he would appeal and his attorney simply misspoke when he later stated that there was no limitation on the waiver of appeal. 23 These two statements, when viewed in light of the rearraignment and sentencing hearings in their entirety, are insufficient to establish that Alejandro Stevens reached any agreement with the government to enter a conditional plea. To the contrary, the record unambiguously shows that Alejandro Stevens and his attorney denied that there was a conditional plea. Moreover, the record clearly shows that the government and the district court never consented to a conditional plea. 24 At Alejandro Stevens's rearraignment hearing, there was a misunderstanding among government attorneys as to whether Alejandro Stevens would plead to Count Two or Count Three. In an effort to resolve the misunderstanding and proceed with the hearing, the district judge questioned the government as to how the plea had evolved, and the government recounted its presumption as to why Alejandro Stevens had approached the government to arrange a plea. The district judge recessed the hearing after her questioning failed to resolve the misunderstanding. When the hearing resumed, the district judge orally reviewed Alejandro Stevens's plea agreement and specifically asked Stevens, his attorney, and the government attorney about the scope of the plea agreement. All three individuals confirmed that the only agreement between the parties was that Counts One and Three would be dropped in exchange for the plea to Count Two. 25 These affirmations establish that despite the government's statement that it presumed that Alejandro Stevens approached it to discuss preserving his right to appeal, no such agreement materialized. Moreover, at Alejandro Stevens's later sentencing hearing, the district judge directly asked Alejandro Stevens's attorney and the government attorney whether there was a limitation on the waiver of appeal, and each attorney answered no. Alejandro Stevens's unilateral post-plea statement in the PSR cannot overcome the unanimous disclaimer of any agreement between Stevens and the government beyond that to drop Counts One and Three in exchange for a plea to Count Two. Because there is no indication in the record that the government or the district court consented to a conditional plea, we conclude that Alejandro Stevens's plea was unconditional. Cf. Bell, 966 F.2d at 917 (concluding that there was no conditional plea where the there was no written agreement to preserve an issue for appeal, no express acquiescence by the government, and no statement by the district judge approving a conditional plea); Wise, 179 F.3d at 187 (concluding that there was no conditional plea where district court orally confirmed that the written plea agreement which contained no reservation was the entire agreement between the parties). 26 Because Alejandro Stevens pleaded guilty and failed to preserve his right to appeal the district court's denial of his motion to suppress, we affirm his conviction and sentence.