Opinion ID: 678894
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The in-chambers remark.

Text: 28 The remark in chambers presents additional concerns. Many judges generally refrain from any in-chambers discussion of a proposed change of plea in a criminal case, lest they overstep Rule 11(e)(1). Here the judge had another concern, though, besides the plea. He had a jury waiting in the jury room. He had a duty to manage the trial. They were in the middle of it. As part of his trial management, a judge frequently must consult counsel in chambers regarding things which will affect the timing of the events at trial. The mid-trial context of the inquiry justified bringing the lawyers into chambers to find out what was going on, for trial management purposes. The judge had to determine whether to bring the jury into the courtroom and proceed with trial, discharge the jury, or send the jury home for the day but keep it on call for the next day. The judge decides, under Rule 11(e)(3) and (4), whether to accept or reject the plea agreement. The judge was not obligated to waste the trial day, or the entire portion of the trial which had already taken place, if the proposed plea bargain were one which the judge was sure he would reject. 29 Had the judge suggested a change of plea, and given force to his suggestion by saying that the defendant faced life if he went to a verdict and lost, but would get a lesser sentence if he pleaded guilty now, we would have a case like Bruce. The message would be communicated back to Frank, so keeping him out of the room would not insulate the discussion. But that is not what happened. The judge needed to know whether the plea discussions were serious enough to justify sending the jury home. He did not threaten anything if Frank did not plead, or promise anything if he did. Frank was still exposed to life, whether he took the deal or not. The deal was being set before the judge as a justification for sending the jury home instead of continuing with trial that day, not as an impasse which the judge was being invited to resolve. Nor did the judge volunteer the remark about what sentence he would have liked to impose if the law allowed. Frank's lawyer asked him. The government characterizes it as subjunctive mode, condition contrary to fact, as in, what would you have done if we had not agreed on a deal. Even if that is not so, and the deal was not final, and even if it was error for the judge to answer Mr. Polis's question, at worst it was invited error. The doctrine of invited error prevents a defendant from complaining of an error that was his own fault. United States v. Reyes-Alvarado, 963 F.2d 1184, 1187 (9th Cir.1992). 30 Frank's argument that the plea agreement was impermissibly coercive because it was a package deal is meritless. Even if the deal was the type of package deal contemplated by United States v. Caro, 997 F.2d 657 (9th Cir.1993), all that Caro requires is careful scrutiny to ensure voluntariness. Id. at 659-60. The judge gave it just the kind of careful scrutiny he was supposed to give. The careful scrutiny is what Frank claims was undue participation in the April 9 proceeding. 31 Frank's remaining claims do not merit extended discussion. Negotiating the plea was not ineffective assistance of counsel, and the agreement was not unconscionable. There is nothing unusual or unconscionable about a defendant with a hopeless case giving the government an easier time of it in exchange for lenience for other people whom the defendant cares about. Frank waived any complaints about the wording of the indictment and the information by pleading guilty. See Cox v. United States, 428 F.2d 877, 878 (9th Cir.1970). Frank was adequately informed of the charges against him as required by Rule 11(c). The factual basis for Frank's guilty plea, including his supervision of five or more people, was sufficiently established by the trial testimony, and by Frank's open-court statements during the Rule 11 colloquy. United States v. Delgado, 4 F.3d 780, 785 (9th Cir.1993).