Opinion ID: 161150
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Bond Revocation

Text: Prior to trial, on September 21, 1999, appellant tested positive for cocaine use in violation of the conditions of his pretrial release. A magistrate judge revoked and then reinstated his bond under electronic monitoring and twentyfour-hour lock down status. On December 30, 1999, Guebara threatened to kill the “[expletive] judge,” and on January 5, 2000, he removed the electronic monitoring device from his ankle. (Appellant’s Br. Ex. G.) As a result, the district court revoked appellant’s bond and remanded him into custody. The record does not show that the court made specific findings after a formal hearing, nor does it show that appellant objected to the bond revocation procedure. -10- Appellant claims that the possibility of entering into a plea agreement with the government evaporated once bond was revoked for a second time; had he remained out of custody, the government would have agreed to recommend a downward sentencing departure in exchange for his substantial assistance. Normally, we review legal aspects of bond revocations de novo, United States v. Dudley , 62 F.3d 1275, 1277 (10th Cir. 1995), but in this case, our review is limited to plain error because appellant failed to raise and preserve his objection during the revocation proceedings. “Under [plain error] review, relief is not warranted unless there has been (1) error, (2) that is plain, and (3) affects substantial rights. . . . An appellate court should exercise its discretion to correct plain error only if it seriously affect[s] the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings.” Jones v. United States , 527 U.S. 373, 389 (1999) (citations and quotation omitted). Bond revocations are governed by 18 U.S.C. § 3148(b), which states: The judicial officer shall enter an order of revocation and detention if, after a hearing, the judicial officer— (1) finds that there is— (A) probable cause to believe that the person has committed a Federal, State, or local crime while on release; or (B) clear and convincing evidence that the person has violated any other condition of release; and (2) finds that— (A) based on the factors set forth in section 3142(g) of this title, there is no condition or combination of conditions of release that will assure that the person will not flee or pose a danger to the safety of any other person or the community; or -11- (B) the person is unlikely to abide by any condition or combination of conditions of release. Section 3148(b) is silent about the nature of the required hearing. By contrast, 18 U.S.C. § 3142, which governs detention hearings, states that the detainee “shall be afforded an opportunity to testify, to present witnesses, to cross-examine witnesses who appear at the hearing, and to present information by proffer or otherwise”; furthermore, § 3142(i) requires that “[i]n a detention order . . ., the judicial officer shall . . . include written findings of fact and a written statement of the reasons for the detention.” Appellant questions the adequacy of the district court’s bond revocation hearing and findings and seeks to “be placed back into the position he was in before the district court improperly revoked his bond.” (Appellant’s Br. at 26.) We assume, without deciding, that the absence of a formal hearing or specific factual findings constitutes error. Cf. United States v. Davis , 845 F.2d 412, 415 (2d Cir. 1988). We nevertheless conclude that the procedural error does not warrant relief because it did not seriously affect the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of the proceedings. The revocation was amply supported by the evidence before the court; evidence that appellant cut his monitoring device and that he tested positive for cocaine use would have supported findings that he had violated a condition of release and that he was unlikely to abide by any condition of release. -12-