Opinion ID: 2975297
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Motion to withdraw a guilty plea

Text: -5- No. 06-6004 United States v. Powell Pursuant to Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, Powell must “show a fair and just reason for requesting the withdrawal.” Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(d)(2)(B). “The purpose of Rule 11(d) is to allow a hastily entered plea made with unsure heart and confused mind to be undone, not to allow a defendant to make a tactical decision to enter a plea, wait several weeks, and then obtain a withdrawal if he believes that he made a bad choice in pleading guilty.” Dixon, 479 F.3d at 436. (quotation marks omitted). This court has articulated a multi-factor inquiry to assess whether a defendant has provided a fair and just reason that warrants the withdrawal of his or her guilty plea. These factors are: (1) the amount of time that elapsed between the plea and the motion to withdraw it; (2) the presence (or absence) of a valid reason for the failure to move for withdrawal earlier in the proceedings; (3) whether the defendant has asserted or maintained his innocence; (4) the circumstances underlying the entry of the guilty plea; (5) the defendant’s nature and background; (6) the degree to which the defendant has had prior experience with the criminal justice system; and (7) potential prejudice to the government if the motion to withdraw is granted. Id. Powell argues that the short time between the entry of her plea and the motion to withdraw weighs heavily in favor of granting the motion. To be sure, this court has previously held that “[t]he shorter the delay, the more likely a motion to withdraw will be granted, and a defendant’s reasons for filing such a motion will be more closely scrutinized when he has delayed his motion for a substantial length of time.” United States v. Baez, 87 F.3d 805, 808 (6th Cir. 1996). Powell thus makes a valid point, but this one factor is not dispositive. The district court is required to weigh the time-lapse factor with all of the other factors. Moreover, this court has affirmed the denial of a -6- No. 06-6004 United States v. Powell motion to withdraw where as few as three days had elapsed between the entry of the plea and the motion to withdraw. United States v. Rankin, No. 95-3112, 1996 WL 464982, at  (6th Cir. Aug. 14, 1996) (holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying the defendant’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea where “the court considered and made findings as to the relevant factors, and explained its decision to accord more weight to certain of those factors”). Upon a review of the remaining factors, we conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Powell’s motion to withdraw her plea. The “second factor for district courts to consider is why the grounds for withdrawal were not presented to the court at an earlier point in the proceedings.” United States v. Spencer, 836 F.2d 236, 239 (6th Cir. 1987). Powell’s claim—that her signature on the plea agreement and on the Agreed Factual Basis was somehow forged—could not have been presented earlier, so this factor weighs in her favor. The district court found, however, that Powell’s forgery claim was completely without merit. Indeed, Powell signed the documents in open court under the observation of the district judge. And Kim Tollison, the attorney who represented Powell at the time of the plea, testified that he had advised her of the content of both the Agreed Factual Basis and the plea agreement itself, and that he had witnessed Powell sign both documents. The third factor, whether the defendant has asserted or maintained his or her innocence, weighs heavily against Powell. She has not asserted any defense or claimed that she is innocent. See United States v. Mader, 251 F.3d 1099, 1106 (6th Cir. 2001) (“Given that Mader has never denied that he committed the acts underlying the charges against him, it was not an abuse of discretion for the lower court to deny his motion to withdraw his guilty plea.”). Rather, Powell’s -7- No. 06-6004 United States v. Powell objection to the plea agreement has to do only with the amount of loss attributed to her for purposes of sentencing and with the amount of restitution that she will be required to pay. We fail to see how either of these amounts could be a surprise, because they were stated in her plea agreement and announced in open court. Immediately after the government recited the amount of loss and the amount of restitution, the district court asked Powell if she understood everything. She responded that she did. The fifth factor, the defendant’s nature and background, also weighs against Powell, as does the sixth factor, the degree to which the defendant has had prior experience with the criminal justice system. Powell is a repeat offender, and she committed the fraud in the present case while on supervised release from another federal mail fraud conviction. She has pled guilty on six different occasions since 1993 and thus has more experience than most defendants with the criminal justice system. Moreover, Powell is by all accounts an intelligent woman with a high school degree and with some amount of college education. We agree with the district court’s conclusion that Powell was more than capable of understanding the charges against her, of reading the plea agreement, and of reading the Agreed Factual Basis for the plea. The seventh factor—the potential prejudice to the government if the motion is granted—need not be evaluated in the present case. Although the district court may consider this factor, “the government is not required to establish prejudice that would result from a plea withdrawal, unless and until the defendant advances and establishes a fair and just reason for allowing the withdrawal.” Spencer, 836 F.2d at 240. Powell has not done so here. -8- No. 06-6004 United States v. Powell Finally, Powell asserts two novel claims in support of her appeal. She first argues that the district court’s decision to order her to undergo a mental-health evaluation before ruling on her motion somehow demonstrates that the court abused its discretion in ultimately denying her motion. We fail to see how this demonstrates anything other than the district court’s concern about whether Powell was competent to assist in the management of her own case. Powell, moreover, offers no caselaw in support of this claim. Powell’s second novel claim is that the district judge should have recused himself pursuant to the Code of Conduct for United States Judges, Canon 3(C)(1)(a). This Canon states that a judge shall disqualify himself or herself when the judge has “personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding.” Powell argues that, but for the judge’s “testimony” that he witnessed Powell sign the plea agreement and the Agreed Factual Basis, the outcome of the motion to withdraw the guilty plea would have been different. Specifically, Powell objects to the district judge’s having considered his own recollection of previous hearings when making findings of fact as to the authenticity of the plea agreement and the Agreed Factual Basis, as well as to the judge’s having decided whether those documents were signed by Powell. Because Powell raises this issue for the first time on appeal, we apply the “plain error” standard of review. United States v. Mahon, 444 F.3d 530, 532 (6th Cir. 2006). The plain-error inquiry under Rule 52(b) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure is a four-step process: First, we are to consider whether an error occurred in the district court. Absent any error, our inquiry is at an end. However, if an error occurred, we then consider if the error was plain. If it is, then we proceed to inquire whether the plain error affects substantial rights. Finally, even if all three factors exist, we must then consider -9- No. 06-6004 United States v. Powell whether to exercise our discretionary power under Rule 52(b), or in other words, we must decide whether the plain error affecting substantial rights seriously affected the fairness, integrity or public reputation of judicial proceedings. Id. at 533. Because we conclude that the district court committed no error at all, our plain-error inquiry is complete. This court has held, in a different context, that a district judge may rely on his or her own recollections when deciding a motion. See Solomon v. United States, 467 F.3d 928, 935 (6th Cir. 2006) (“It may not be necessary to call the district judge as a witness, as Petitioner suggests, because a district judge simply may rely on his or her recollections of the criminal proceedings in deciding a [28 U.S.C.] Section 2255 motion without testifying.”). Moreover, the district judge’s recollections in the present case were not the only evidence refuting Powell’s forgery claim. Powell’s own defense attorney testified that Powell had signed the plea agreement and the Agreed Factual Basis that he had previously discussed with her. There is simply no merit to Powell’s argument.