Opinion ID: 556604
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Asserted Defense

Text: 2 In making our determination, we need not be detained by the defense Allard has asserted. That defense is irrelevant to this appeal because it is insufficient on its face. In saying that, we are mindful of the fact that, in determining whether to permit withdrawal of a guilty plea, a court should not decide the merits of a proffered defense by resolving factual issues that are more properly decided at trial. United States v. Schubert, 728 F.2d 1364, 1366 (11th Cir.1984) (quoting United States v. Morgan, 567 F.2d 479 (D.C.Cir.1977)). However, when the defendant's factual allegations, even if true, fail to establish a cognizable defense, they do not provide a reason for permitting withdrawal of a plea. United States v. Barker, 514 F.2d 208, 220 (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied, 421 U.S. 1013, 95 S.Ct. 2420, 44 L.Ed.2d 682 (1975); see also United States v. Carr, 740 F.2d 339, 345-47 (5th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 471 U.S. 1004, 105 S.Ct. 1865, 85 L.Ed.2d 159 (1985). 3 That is precisely the situation in this case. As previously noted, the fact that Allard's scheme contemplated that Worcester Hospital would be the recipient of Allard's services or that such services were actually performed does not exonerate Allard from criminal responsibility for mail fraud. See King, 860 F.2d at 55; Lea, 618 F.2d at 426; United States v. Melton, 689 F.2d 679 (7th Cir.1982). What must be determined is whether the scheme represented an effort to deceive the hospital into hiring him. See United States v. Richerson, 833 F.2d 1147, 1156-57 (5th Cir.1987). 4 In this case there is no question that the hospital could not and would not have hired Allard had it not been for his misrepresentations regarding his qualifications. Under Massachusetts law, a hospital is not permitted to hire an intern unless the applicant has completed not less than three and one-half years of study at an accredited medical school and holds at least a limited license to practice medicine. Mass.Gen.Laws Ann. ch. 112, Sec. 9. Consequently, Allard cannot contend that his efforts to mislead the hospital into paying for his services as an intern were anything less than fraudulent. 5 Even if there were merit to the proffered defense, it would be relevant only if Allard failed to understand the nature of the charge to which he pled. Allard's decision was the product of a plea bargain. In reaching a plea bargain, a defendant assesses the likelihood of conviction and balances that against the relative severity of the sentence he expects to receive pursuant to the agreement and that which could be imposed upon conviction. In many cases, that process results in a compromise pursuant to which the defendant makes a conscious decision to relinquish a perceived defense. As long as that decision is not the product of coercion or misinformation, the defendant may not later renege on the agreement on the ground that he miscalculated or belatedly discovered a new defense. To hold otherwise would render plea agreements and the pleas entered pursuant to them meaningless. Brady v. United States, 397 U.S. 742, 756-57, 90 S.Ct. 1463, 1473-74, 25 L.Ed.2d 747 (1970); United States v. Hurtado, 846 F.2d 995, 997 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 863, 109 S.Ct. 163, 102 L.Ed.2d 133 (1988); see Schubert, 728 F.2d at 1365. 6 On the other hand, if, as Allard claims, he was misled into believing that the charge encompassed only a scheme to defraud the Commonwealth, he cannot be deemed to have waived any defense vis-a-vis Worcester Hospital. Schubert, 728 F.2d at 1366. Therefore, we now turn to the issue of whether Allard was informed of and understood that he was charged with a scheme to defraud the hospital.