Opinion ID: 2745815
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Waiver & Standard of Review

Text: Because Hinds did not object to the special conditions of his supervised release, the government argues waiver. Hinds, of course, contends there was no waiver. He emphasizes that neither of the special conditions at issue were advanced in the presentence report, which means the first time he learned of them came at the end of his sentencing hearing.6 In his view, merely answering “[n]o”, (Sent. Tr. 69), to the district court’s question regarding awareness of legal reasons why the sentence should not be imposed does not constitute the intentional relinquishment of a right, sufficient for waiver to apply. We agree. Waiver occurs when a defendant intention- 6 The government conceded as much at oral argument, acknowledging the conditions were not announced before the sentencing hearing. No. 13-3543 15 ally relinquishes a known right. See United States v. Staples, 202 F.3d 992, 995 (7th Cir. 2000) (citing United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 730-34 (1993)). A response to a general inquiry at the end of sentencing, and unaccompanied by either (1) an explicit approval of the condition or (2) a strategic reason to forego the argument at the hearing, does not constitute waiver. Farmer, 755 F.3d at 853 (finding no waiver under similar facts). Although we decline to apply waiver, the standard of review remains an open question. For as its fallback position, the government argues forfeiture, calling for application of plain error review. Hinds disagrees. He contends there was no forfeiture, so abuse of discretion is the proper standard of review. Alternatively, Hinds maintains he still prevails even under the stricter plain error standard. We agree with Hinds’s either-or contention; he prevails no matter which standard applies. We therefore maintain the same course as Farmer and leave this question for another day. See 755 F.3d at 854 (leaving open standard of review question where “the outcome … is the same regardless of the standard” applied).