Opinion ID: 514035
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Eligibility for Parole

Text: 8 Sanclemente argues that the district court, by failing to warn him of his ineligibility for parole, violated its obligation under Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Rule 11 governs the taking of guilty pleas in federal courts; subsection (c) sets forth the specific facts of which the court must apprise the defendant before accepting his plea. Among other things, the court is required to inform the defendant of the mandatory minimum penalty provided by law, if any, and the maximum possible penalty provided by law.... Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(c)(1). 9 The statute under which Sanclemente was sentenced provides that [n]o person sentenced under this subparagraph shall be eligible for parole during the term of imprisonment imposed therein. 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(b)(1)(A). Sanclemente maintains that, since parole bears directly on the length of incarceration, he should have been informed of its unavailability in his case. He relies almost exclusively for this argument on Munich v. United States, 337 F.2d 356, 361 (9th Cir.1964), overruled on other grounds, Heiden v. United States, 353 F.2d 53, 55 (9th Cir.1965), in which this court held that a defendant who pleads guilty without knowing that he will not be eligible for parole does not plead with understanding of the consequences of such a plea. 10 In Munich, however, we were construing the 1961 version of Rule 11. The rule was entirely rewritten in 1974, in part to reject the holding of Munich and cases holding similarly. In its notes accompanying the 1974 amendments, the Advisory Committee stated: 11 It has been suggested that it is desirable to inform a defendant of additional consequences which might follow from his plea of guilty. Durant v. United States [410 F.2d 689 (1st Cir.1969) ] held that a defendant must be informed of his ineligibility for parole. Trujillo v. United States [377 F.2d 266 (5th Cir.1967) ] held that advice about eligibility for parole is not required.... 12 Under the rule the judge is not required to inform a defendant about these matters, though a judge is free to do so if he feels a consequence of a plea of guilty in a particular case is likely to be of real significance to the defendant. 13 18 U.S.C.A. Rule 11 at 348 (citations omitted) (emphasis added). 14 This court has not yet had occasion to apply the amended version of Rule 11 to a plea involving parole ineligibility. We have noted in passing the effect of the amendments. In a case involving the propriety of a state plea proceeding, we recognized that the 1974 amendments had effectively overruled Munich. One reason for the change was to eliminate the requirement that an accused be advised of parole eligibility. Wayne v. Raines, 690 F.2d 685, 688 n. 3 (9th Cir.1982), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 914, 104 S.Ct. 275, 78 L.Ed.2d 256 (1983); see Bunker v. Wise, 550 F.2d 1155, 1158 (9th Cir.1977) (defendant need not be advised of all conceivable consequences such as when he may be considered for parole). 15 The Supreme Court has strongly suggested that Rule 11, as amended, does not require a court to warn a defendant of parole consequences. 16 We have never held that the United States Constitution requires the State to furnish a defendant with information about parole eligibility in order for the defendant's plea of guilty to be voluntary, and indeed such a constitutional requirement would be inconsistent with the current rules of procedure governing the entry of guilty pleas in the federal courts. See Fed.Rule Crim.Proc. 11(c); Advisory Committee's Notes on 1974 Amendment.... 17 Hill v. Lockhart, 474 U.S. 52, 56, 106 S.Ct. 366, 369, 88 L.Ed.2d 203 (1985). In addition, every other circuit that has addressed the question has interpreted new Rule 11 consistently with the Advisory Committee Notes. Johnson v. United States, 650 F.2d 1, 4 (1st Cir.1981); United States v. Garcia, 636 F.2d 122, 123 (5th Cir.1981) (per curiam); Hunter v. Fogg, 616 F.2d 55, 61 (2d Cir.1980). 18 The observations of the Supreme Court and the Advisory Committee, and the holdings of other circuit courts leave little doubt as to the effect of the 1974 amendment. Accordingly, we hold that Rule 11 does not require the trial court to notify a defendant of parole eligibility before accepting his guilty plea.