Opinion ID: 761821
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Factual finding

Text: 33 Mikaelian argues, and the government concedes, that remand is required for the court to make a factual finding whether Mikaelian breached the plea agreement by failing fully to cooperate. While the court may have impliedly made such a finding, we agree that remand is necessary in any event, as discussed hereafter in subsection 2. Although the government has the discretion to decide whether to file the motion, it does not have the last and only word on whether a defendant provided substantial assistance. As in this case, the government may decline to file a motion and state that the defendant did not provide substantial assistance, but the court retains its factfinding function. If the defendant protests that he did indeed cooperate and that the government is acting in bad faith in refusing to file a motion, a factual dispute arises, and the district court can determine whether in fact the defendant did provide substantial assistance as part of the bad faith determination.