Opinion ID: 171406
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Admission of Guilt

Text: Fay argues that the district court erred by not requiring him to admit his guilt at his revocation hearing. He did not raise this issue before the district court, so our review is only for plain error. See United States v. Teague, 443 F.3d 1310, 1314 (10th Cir.2006). Under the plain error doctrine, this court will reverse the judgment below only if there is (1) error, (2) that is plain, which (3) affects substantial rights, and which (4) seriously affects the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings. Id. (quotation omitted). The procedures that apply at a revocation hearing are less formal than those that apply at a plea hearing. Compare Fed.R.Crim.P. 32.1(b) (revocation of supervised release) with Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(b)(2)-(3) (acceptance of a guilty plea). Revocation hearings are not part of a criminal prosecution and thus the full panoply of rights due a defendant in such [] proceeding[s] does not apply. Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U.S. 471, 480, 92 S.Ct. 2593, 33 L.Ed.2d 484 (1972). A defendant is entitled to the following rights at a revocation hearing: (A) written notice of the alleged violation; (B) disclosure of the evidence against the person; (C) an opportunity to appear, present evidence, and question any adverse witness unless the court determines that the interest of justice does not require the witness to appear; (D) notice of the person's right to retain counsel or to request that counsel be appointed if the person cannot obtain counsel; and (E) an opportunity to make a statement and present any information in mitigation. Fed.R.Crim.P. 32.1(b)(2)(A)-(E). Under Fed.R.Crim.P. 32.1, the defendant has the implicit right to admit his guilt or to contest the alleged violation of the terms of his supervised release. United States v. Tapia-Escalera, 356 F.3d 181, 184 (1st Cir.2004). But, there is no requirement, as argued by Fay, that the court ascertain directly from the Defendant in open court whether he wanted to plead guilty to the allegations of supervised release violations. Aplt. Br. at 18. A full revocation hearing is not necessary where the defendant admits he has violated the terms of his supervised release. United States v. Farrell, 393 F.3d 498, 500 (4th Cir.2005). Here, Fay admitted that he had violated the conditions of his supervised release. In his sentencing memorandum, Fay notified the court of his intent to admit the facts in the Petition on Supervised Release. ROA, Vol. I, Doc. 22 at 1. Then, in the same document, he went on to state, [t]he Defendant admits his involvement with the meth and the firearm as alleged in the Petition on Supervised Release[.] Id. at 5. In the present case, Fay had nothing to debate or challenge at a revocation hearing. He admitted the conduct set forth in the petition, and he had pleaded guilty to state charges based upon the same conduct. By any measure, Fay's prior guilty plea established his violation of the conditions of his supervised release, which required in part: While on supervised release, the defendant shall not commit another federal, state, or local crime and shall not illegally possess a controlled substance. ROA, Vol. I, Doc. 7 at 3. Further, immediately prior to sentencing for his violation of supervised release, the court asked Fay if he wished to speak on his own behalf, and Fay alluded to his guilt by saying, Your honor, every day that I've been locked up I kick myself in the butt for what I did. My own stupidity. I have no excuse for what I did. I can't justify what I did. All I can do is learn from it. And all I can do is ask this Court to give me another chance. ROA, Vol. II at 7:5-10. The record before us establishes that Fay understood what the government claimed were violations of the conditions of his supervised release. Fay was served with a petition that sought revocation of his supervised release and that set forth the specific violations to support the requested revocation. See ROA, Vol. I, Doc. 17 at 1-3. Fay had pleaded guilty in state court to the same conduct that was alleged in the petition as the basis for revocation of his supervised release, and he served a state sentence for that conduct. Fay did not object when his counsel told the district court there was no reason they could not proceed to sentencing, even though the government had not presented any evidence and Fay had not explicitly admitted that he had violated the conditions of his supervised release in open court. See id. The totality of the attendant circumstances shows that Fay admitted the allegations in the petition, which established that he had violated the terms of his supervised release. The district court did not commit plain error by not requiring Fay to orally and explicitly admit his guilt in open court.