Opinion ID: 196268
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The gray Cougar and the black Lumina

Text: 42 Rodriguez-Rodriguez maintains that the search of the gray Cougar was invalid. We disagree. The Passenger's handling of the suspicious packages occurred between the gray Cougar and the white GMC van. Moreover, the Agents observed that two U.S.D.A. stickers lay in plain view in the Cougar. In light of the circumstances, we think that these observations were sufficient to warrant the officers in believing that the vehicle was being used to transport narcotics to the airport. We accordingly find that the search of the gray Cougar was supported by probable cause. 43 Rodriguez-Rodriguez also challenges the search of the black Lumina. While this presents a somewhat closer call, we think the search was supported by the requisite probable cause. Admittedly, Rodriguez-Rodriguezrived in the black Lumina after the Pathfinder had left the area. He joined the group for only a few minutes, left in the black Lumina, and returned shortly thereafter. The Agents did not observe anything being placed in or withdrawn from the vehicle. 44 Nevertheless, before searching the vehicles, the Agents determined that Rodriguez-Rodriguez owned the gray Cougar, 12 in which the Agents had observed U.S.D.A. stickers. This was sufficient to warrant the Agents' belief that Rodriguez-Rodriguez was intimately involved in the suspected narcotics trafficking. Thus, before searching the black Lumina, the Agents reasonably suspected Rodriguez-Rodriguez of drug trafficking and knew that he was independently associated with two vehicles at the scene of the arrest: the one in which he arrived and the one he owned. These facts, in conjunction with Agent Rivera's previous observations and the cash and tickets already seized, were sufficient to warrant the Agents' belief that the black Lumina was being used to transport narcotics. See McCoy, 977 F.2d at 711 (where officers have probable cause to believe that the suspects used the vehicle in criminal activity, they may reasonably infer the vehicle contains contraband). We accordingly find that the search of the black Lumina was supported by probable cause. MOTIONS TO WITHDRAW GUILTY PLEAS 45 Rodriguez-Resto, Velez, and Travieso all contend that the district court erred in denying their motions to withdraw their guilty pleas. 46 Other than for errors of law, we will overturn the trial judge's decision to deny a motion to withdraw a guilty plea only for demonstrable abuse of discretion. United States v. Allard, 926 F.2d 1237, 1245 (1st Cir.1991) (citing United States v. Pellerito, 878 F.2d 1535, 1538 (1st Cir.1989)). The trial court's subsidiary findings of fact in connection with the plea-withdrawal motion are reviewed only for clear error. Id. 47 It is well settled that a defendant may withdraw a guilty plea prior to sentencing only upon a showing of fair and just reason for the request. United States v. Cotal-Crespo, 47 F.3d 1, 3 (1st Cir.1995) (citing Pellerito, 878 F.2d at 1537); see also Fed.R.Crim.P. 32(d). To gauge whether the asserted ground for withdrawal meets the Rule 32(d) standard, a court must look at the totality of the circumstances, especially whether the defendant's plea was knowing, voluntary, and intelligent within the meaning of Rule 11. See Cotal-Crespo, 47 F.3d at 3-4; United States v. Doyle, 981 F.2d 591, 594 (1st Cir.1992); Pellerito, 878 F.2d at 1537. Other factors the court may consider include (1) the plausibility of the reasons prompting the requested change of plea; (2) the timing of the defendant's motion; and (3) the existence or nonexistence of an assertion of innocence. Cotal-Crespo, 47 F.3d at 3-4. Lastly, even where a defendant appears to meet the strictures of this four-part test, the court still must evaluate the proposed plea withdrawal in relation to any demonstrable prejudice that will accrue to the government if the defendant is permitted to change his plea. United States v. Parrilla-Tirado, 22 F.3d 368, 371 (1st Cir.1994) (citing Doyle, 981 F.2d at 594; Pellerito, 878 F.2d at 1537). 48 All three appellants contend that their codefendants and attorneys coerced them into accepting the package plea agreement at joint meetings immediately prior to the plea hearings. It is beyond dispute that a guilty plea is involuntary and therefore invalid if it is obtained by actual or threatened physical harm or by coercion overbearing the will of the defendant. Brady v. United States, 397 U.S. 742, 750, 90 S.Ct. 1463, 1470, 25 L.Ed.2d 747 (1970). The Supreme Court has also explained that a prosecutor's offer during plea bargaining of adverse or lenient treatment for some person other than the accused might pose a greater danger of inducing a false guilty plea by skewing the risks a defendant must consider. Bordenkircher v. Hayes, 434 U.S. 357, 364 n. 8, 98 S.Ct. 663, 669 n. 8, 54 L.Ed.2d 604 (1978) (dictum). This concern applies to package plea agreements because, [q]uite possibly, one defendant will be happier with the package deal than his codefendant(s); looking out for his own best interests, the lucky one may try to force his codefendant(s) into going along with the deal. United States v. Caro, 997 F.2d 657, 659-60 (9th Cir.1993). Package plea deals therefore impose special obligations: the prosecutor must alert the district court to the fact that codefendants are entering a package deal, Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(e)(2); United States v. Daniels, 821 F.2d 76, 78-79 (1st Cir.1987); see also Caro, 997 F.2d at 659-60, and the district court must carefully ascertain the voluntariness of each defendant's plea. See United States v. Buckley, 847 F.2d 991, 1000 n. 6 (1st Cir.1988), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 1015, 109 S.Ct. 808, 102 L.Ed.2d 798 (1989); Daniels, 821 F.2d at 79-80; see also Caro, 997 F.2d at 660. 49 Here, it is clear from the record that the district court was fully aware of the package nature of the defendants' plea agreements. We nevertheless must determine whether the district court conducted a proper voluntariness inquiry, or otherwise erred in concluding that none of the three appellants had asserted a fair and just reason for withdrawing his plea. A. Rodriguez-Resto 50 Before ruling on his motion to change his plea, the district court heard testimony from Rodriguez-Resto, his attorney, and Martinez' attorney. Rodriguez-Resto testified, in effect, that his attorney would not let him plead not guilty because it would have destroyed the package deal negotiated for all of the defendants. Both attorneys testified that Rodriguez-Resto's guilty plea was entirely voluntary and was in no way coerced by the threat of nullifying the package deal. In fact, they testified, they were concerned about the voluntariness of package plea agreements and consulted with Assistant United States Attorney Pereira, who stated: Look, if your client wants to go to trial, there are three defendants that will go to trial anyway. So he can go to trial and the agreement will stand for the rest of the defendants. Both attorneys testified that when Rodriguez-Resto was informed that he could go to trial without jeopardizing the package agreement, he again reiterated his desire to plead guilty. 51 After hearing this testimony, the district court denied Rodriguez-Resto's motion to withdraw, stating that his testimony simply was not credible. The district court found that his guilty plea had been entered voluntarily and that his claim of coercion merely reflected second thoughts about the wisdom of his decision after learning that two codefendants had been acquitted at trial. These findings are amply supported by the record and therefore do not constitute clear error. Moreover, we note that at the original plea hearing, the district court specifically asked Rodriguez-Resto whether anyone had forced him to plead guilty, to which he responded no. Such statements in open court during a plea hearing carry a strong presumption of verity. Blackledge v. Allison, 431 U.S. 63, 74, 97 S.Ct. 1621, 1629, 52 L.Ed.2d 136 (1977). Accordingly, we hold that the district court properly denied Rodriguez-Resto's motion to withdraw his guilty plea. B. Velez and Travieso 52 Both Velez and Travieso maintain that they were coerced into accepting the package plea agreement. We need not reach the issue of whether their pleas were in fact coerced because we find that the district court failed to conduct a full and direct voluntariness examination in open court, thereby compromising one of Rule 11's core concerns and undermining the validity of their guilty pleas. 13 See Allard, 926 F.2d at 1244-45 (explaining that Rule 11's core concerns are 1) absence of coercion, 2) understanding of the charges, and 3) knowledge of the consequences of the guilty plea). 53 Rule 11(d) states: The court shall not accept a plea of guilty or nolo contendere without first, by addressing the defendant personally in open court, determining that the plea is voluntary and not the result of force or threats or of promises apart from a plea agreement. Fed.R.Crim.Proc. 11(d) (emphasis added). Here, the district court conducted only a partial inquiry into the voluntariness of Travieso's and Velez' guilty pleas. Specifically, it asked them whether they had entered into [the] plea agreement without compulsion or any threats or promises by the--from the U.S. Attorney or any of its agents. It did not, however, ask whether the defendants were pleading guilty voluntarily or whether they had been threatened or pressured by their codefendants into accepting the package plea agreement. Under these circumstances, the district court's inquiry was incomplete because, regardless of whether Travieso's and Velez' guilty pleas were actually coerced by their codefendants, the literal answer to the court's question could still have been yes. Admittedly, all the defendants acknowledged in their written plea agreements that they had not been threatened or pressured into entering their guilty pleas, and all testified at the plea hearings that they had answered the questions in the plea agreements truthfully after consultation with their attorneys. In many situations, however, reliance on 'a written document is not a sufficient substitute for personal examination [by the court].'  United States v. Medina-Silverio, 30 F.3d 1, 3 (1st Cir.1994) (quoting James W. Moore, 8 Moore's Federal Practice p 11.-05 (1994)) (other citations omitted). The Supreme Court has similarly expressed the importance of direct interrogation by the district court judge in determining whether to accept the defendant's guilty plea: 54 To the extent that the district judge thus exposes the defendant's state of mind on the record through personal interrogation, he not only facilitates his own determination of a guilty plea's voluntariness, but he also facilitates that determination in any subsequent post-conviction proceeding based upon a claim that the plea was involuntary. Both of these goals are undermined in proportion to the degree the district judge resorts to assumptions not based upon recorded responses to his inquiries. 55 McCarthy v. United States, 394 U.S. 459, 467, 89 S.Ct. 1166, 1171, 22 L.Ed.2d 418 (1969). 56 Where a district court has only partially addressed one of Rule 11's core concerns, we must reverse a determination that there was no fair and just reason to set the plea aside unless the irregularities in the plea proceeding do not affect substantial rights of the defendant. See Cotal-Crespo, 47 F.3d at 7 (discussing application of Rule 11(h)'s harmless error standard when plea-taking errors result in a partial failure to address one of Rule 11's core concerns). Because package-type plea agreements increase the risk that one defendant will coerce another to plead guilty, the district court was obligated to ascertain carefully whether the defendants were in fact entering their pleas without compulsion. See Daniels, 821 F.2d at 79-80; United States v. Buckley, 847 F.2d at 1000 n. 6. Here, the district court made no effort whatsoever to determine whether Travieso's and Velez' pleas were coerced. Under these circumstances, we cannot say that they lacked a fair and just reason for plea withdrawal, especially since the court's lapse arguably affected their substantial rights. The advisory committee's notes make clear that Rule 11(h) was not intended to allow district courts to ignore Rule 11['s] express commands. Medina-Silverio, 30 F.3d at 4 (citation omitted). Rather, Rule 11(h)'s harmless error provision is intended to excuse minor and technical violation[s] and cannot be invoked where the court's deviation effectively nullif[ies] important Rule 11 safeguards. Fed.R.Crim.Proc. 11(h) advisory committee's note to 1983 amendment. Velez' and Travieso's guilty pleas must therefore be set aside and the case must be remanded for further Rule 11 proceedings or trial. INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL 57 On the morning of the suppression hearing, Pagan's attorney moved for a continuance because her presence was required at another hearing. The court denied the motion, noting that a continuation would be logistically implausible because of the large number of defendants, attorneys, and witnesses present for the hearing. After consulting with Pagan, his attorney asked Travieso's attorney to cover for her during the suppression hearing. Pagan's attorney returned shortly after the court had begun ruling on the motions to suppress. After denying the motions, the court agreed to allow the defendants to file motions to reconsider and to provide Pagan's counsel with a transcript of the hearing. Although the court later extended the deadline for filing motions, Pagan never sought reconsideration. 58 Pagan now contends that the court erred by denying his motion for a continuance, and that as a result of this error, he was denied effective assistance of counsel. We need not wax longiloquent on this contention. United States v. Talladino, 38 F.3d 1255, 1261 (1st Cir.1994). Initially, we note that Pagan points to nothing in the record that would suggest that the district court abused its discretion in denying the continuance. See United States v. Rodriguez-Cortes, 949 F.2d 532, 545 (1st Cir.1991) (refusal to grant a continuance is reviewed for abuse of discretion, and only unreasonable and arbitrary insistence upon expeditiousness in the face of a justifiable request for delay constitutes an abuse of discretion). Moreover, Pagan's ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim is utterly untenable given the extensive cross-examination conducted by the defense counsel for his eleven codefendants. Additionally, we note that even after receiving the transcripts of the hearing, Pagan's counsel did not move for reconsideration, suggesting that she was then satisfied with the record developed by the other attorneys. In fact, Pagan still has not explained what additional questions his counsel would have asked Agent Rivera at the suppression hearing. We accordingly reject Pagan's ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim. 14 59 We have explored the other claims raised by the appellants and find them equally meritless. 60 Affirmed in part, reversed in part.