Court Opinion

ID: 9918384
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-01-12 20:00:31.877958+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:03:27.625201
License: Public Domain

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION
                               File Name: 24a0017n.06

                                       Case No. 23-1341

                         UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                              FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT                                 FILED
                                                                                  Jan 12, 2024
                                                                           KELLY L. STEPHENS, Clerk

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,                            )
                                                     )       ON APPEAL FROM THE
       Plaintiff-Appellee,
                                                     )       UNITED STATES DISTRICT
                                                     )       COURT FOR THE WESTERN
v.
                                                     )       DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
                                                     )
ANTHONY DELANE HUDSON II,
                                                     )
       Defendant-Appellant.                          )                           OPINION
                                                     )

Before: McKEAGUE, LARSEN, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges.

       McKEAGUE, Circuit Judge. Anthony Hudson II pleaded guilty to a drug offense

requiring a minimum sentence of ten years in prison. Before the district court sentenced Hudson,

charging policies for federal prosecutors changed in Hudson’s favor. Consistent with those

policies, Hudson and the United States jointly moved to allow Hudson to withdraw his guilty plea

and plead to a lesser offense—one lacking a mandatory minimum. The district court, however,

did not think withdrawal was appropriate and sentenced Hudson on his original charge.

We AFFIRM.

                                     I. BACKGROUND

                                              A.

       On eight occasions between August 2021 and November 2021, Hudson sold drugs

to undercover officers. Some sales involved methamphetamine. Some involved fentanyl.
No. 23-1341, United States v. Hudson

And others, like the one on November 16, 2021, involved both drugs. That day, Hudson—while

on parole for a different conviction—sold 56.2 grams of methamphetamine and 5.91 grams of

fentanyl.

       Several search warrants followed. Law enforcement began with some residences. At

Hudson’s girlfriend’s house, where Hudson was staying, law enforcement found a gun,

ammunition, and over $2,500 in cash. At his mother’s house, they found another gun, a loaded

magazine, sandwich bags, a digital scale, a cup coated in methamphetamine, and $1,300 in cash

in the basement. They also found a safe with over $10,000 in cash. A few weeks later, law

enforcement searched three of Hudson’s phones, which revealed text messages between him and

others suggesting drug trafficking.

                                                 B.

       In August 2022, Hudson’s criminal prosecution came to a head. Hudson was arrested that

month on a criminal complaint for drug distribution. And by the end of the month, he and the

United States entered into a plea agreement. Hudson agreed to plead guilty to a felony information

charging him with distributing “50 grams or more of methamphetamine and a mixture or substance

containing a detectable amount of fentanyl.” Initial Plea Agreement, R.17 at PageID 36–37.

Hudson pleaded guilty before a magistrate judge on August 29, 2022. The district court accepted

his plea roughly two weeks later.

       All that remained was sentencing. The district court had several options. It could sentence

Hudson to, at most, life in prison and a life term of supervised release. But one thing the court had

to do, given the mandatory minimum for the offense charged, was sentence Hudson to at least ten

years in prison and five years of supervised release.

                                                -2-
No. 23-1341, United States v. Hudson

       The district court initially scheduled sentencing for December 19, 2022. But that hearing

was later delayed so that Hudson could receive a neuropsychological test. Several significant

developments occurred in the interim.

                                                C.

       New Charging Policies. On December 16, 2022, the Attorney General issued two policy

memoranda: one that applies to all offenses and another that applies specifically to drug offenses.

Merrick Garland, General Department Policies Regarding Charging, Pleas, and Sentencing

(December 16, 2022), https://perma.cc/R2J8-4JZD; Merrick Garland, Additional Department

Policies Regarding Charging, Pleas, and Sentencing in Drug Cases (December 16, 2022),

https://perma.cc/XU7X-M7LQ. The memoranda address, among other things, the “proliferation

of provisions carrying mandatory minimum sentences.” General Department Policies, supra, at

3; see also Additional Department Policies, supra, at 1, 2. But they do so in different ways. The

drug offense memorandum sets forth four criteria. Where all four are met, it instructs prosecutors

to decline to charge drug quantities that trigger a mandatory minimum sentence of imprisonment.

Meanwhile, the general memorandum requires prosecutors to balance considerations like the

sentencing factors provided in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) before making charging decisions.

       The memoranda’s policies apply both to future prosecutions and to some currently pending.

Notably, the policies apply where charges have already been brought, but a district court has not

yet imposed a sentence. In such situations, prosecutors are “encouraged” to “take steps to render

the charging document, any plea agreement, and the sentence consistent with th[e] policies.”

General Department Policies, supra, at 6.

       Motion to Withdraw Guilty Plea. In light of the new charging policies, the United States

reviewed Hudson’s case. The government no longer believed a charge carrying a mandatory

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No. 23-1341, United States v. Hudson

sentence was appropriate. It instead preferred to charge Hudson with distribution of an unspecified

quantity of methamphetamine and fentanyl. That charge would reduce Hudson’s minimum term

of supervised release to three years, eliminate mandatory time in prison, and change the maximum

penalty to twenty years in prison.

       The United States took steps to change Hudson’s charge. It filed a superseding felony

information and penalty sheet. It also executed a new plea agreement with Hudson based on the

superseding information. Now, Hudson and the United States just needed the district court to

allow Hudson to withdraw his earlier guilty plea. They formally requested that the court do so in

a joint motion on February 15, 2023.

       But the motion failed. After ordering and receiving supplemental briefing from the parties,

the district court denied their request. Though it conceded the situation was “unusual,” the court

determined that it did not warrant withdrawal. Order, R.58 at PageID 302. First, most of the

factors that apply when analyzing these requests weighed against withdrawal or were “at best

neutral.” Id. at 301. Second, the practical stakes of withdrawal did not warrant the judicial

inefficiencies that would follow. Id. at 302. After all, the district court suspected that Hudson’s

guidelines range for either charge would meet or exceed the original charge’s mandatory minimum

sentence. Id.

                                                D.

       As to Hudson’s guidelines range, the district court turned out to be correct. The probation

office’s final presentence investigation report concluded that Hudson’s total offense level was 31

and that he fell under criminal history category III. Together, those parameters yielded a range of

135 to 168 months in prison. Over Hudson’s objection, the district court adopted that calculation.

                                               -4-
No. 23-1341, United States v. Hudson

       Still, the district court ultimately varied downward. The court considered Hudson’s mental

health troubles, the potential for artificially inflated drug quantities, and Hudson’s pattern of

behavior. Having done so, it provided essentially a “one-level reduction” and sentenced Hudson

to 121 months in prison—one month above the charge’s mandatory minimum. Sentencing Tr.,

R.66 at PageID 365, 367. Hudson also received five years of supervised release (the minimum),

a fine, and a special assessment.

       The next day, Hudson appealed. Unlike its approach at the district court, on appeal, the

United States did not agree with Hudson’s position. It instead contends that we should affirm.

                                         II. ANALYSIS

       Hudson argues that he should have been allowed to withdraw his initial guilty plea. Had

he attempted to withdraw his plea before the district court accepted it, he would have had an

absolute right to do so. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(d)(1) (specifying that a defendant may withdraw

his guilty plea before the court accepts the plea “for any reason or no reason”); see also United

States v. Mendez-Santana, 645 F.3d 822, 827 (6th Cir. 2011). But Hudson and the United States

made their joint request after the district court accepted Hudson’s plea. At that point, the dynamic

changed. Hudson now had to present a “fair and just reason” for withdrawal. Fed. R. Crim.

P. 11(d)(2)(B); United States v. Dixon, 479 F.3d 431, 436 (6th Cir. 2007).

       The district court determined that Hudson didn’t carry his burden. We review that holding

for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Carson, 32 F.4th 615, 623 (6th Cir. 2022). Under that

standard, we reverse only where a court “relies on clearly erroneous findings of fact, improperly

applies the law or uses an erroneous legal standard.” Id. (citation omitted).

                                               -5-
No. 23-1341, United States v. Hudson

                                                  A.

       Though Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11 requires defendants to show a “fair and just

reason” for withdrawal, it does not define what that means. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(d)(2)(B); see

also United States v. Spencer, 836 F.2d 236, 238 (6th Cir. 1987). Still, the rule’s aim is clear.

United States v. Alexander, 948 F.2d 1002, 1004 (6th Cir. 1991). It seeks to separate pleas made

“hastily” with an “unsure heart and confused mind” from those made strategically with an eye

toward withdrawal if the defendant later believes the plea qualified as a “bad choice.” Id. Rule

11 covers guilty pleas like the former but not the latter. See id.

       To help differentiate cases involving a plea entered hastily versus those entered

strategically, this Court has set forth seven factors:

       (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.

United States v. Bashara, 27 F.3d 1174, 1181 (6th Cir. 1994).

       None of the factors, standing alone, controls. United States v. Bazzi, 94 F.3d 1025, 1027

(6th Cir. 1996). Nor is the list exclusive. Id. Each factor’s relevance (or the relevance of a factor

that is not listed) depends on the circumstances surrounding the original plea and the withdrawal

request. United States v. Haygood, 549 F.3d 1049, 1052 (6th Cir. 2008).

       The district court here determined that most of the factors cut against withdrawal or were

“at best neutral.” Order, R.58 at PageID 301–02. The court also considered the “practical stakes”

of allowing Hudson to withdraw his plea. Id. at 302. To assess whether the court abused its

discretion, we examine each of those considerations in turn.

                                                 -6-
No. 23-1341, United States v. Hudson

       1. Time Between Plea and Motion. A long time passed before Hudson moved to withdraw

his plea. Hudson pleaded guilty on August 29, 2022. And the joint motion to withdraw did not

come until February 15, 2023—170 days later. Such a significant delay cuts against withdrawal.

Haygood, 549 F.3d at 1053 (noting that “the factor of time weigh[ed] heavily against” the

defendant where 138 days elapsed between the plea and motion to withdraw). Indeed, we have

consistently affirmed decisions denying requests to withdraw for much shorter delays, like one or

two months. See Carson, 32 F.4th at 624 (collecting cases).

       2. Reason for Delay. Hudson and the United States can explain every day of that delay.

Begin with the stretch from August 29 to December 16, 2022. During those 109 days, the updated

charging policies—which motivated the joint withdrawal request—were not in effect. So, Hudson

had no reason before then to move for withdrawal. That leaves the 61 days from December 16,

2022, to February 15, 2023. The United States used that time to interpret and apply the new

policies to the cases impacted. We find these explanations for delay generally persuasive. As a

result, this factor favors withdrawal. The district court reached a similar conclusion. See Order,

R.58 at PageID 302 (determining that this factor “arguably weighs . . . in favor of withdrawal”).

       3. Claim of Innocence. Hudson has never proclaimed his innocence. At his initial

arraignment, Hudson waived prosecution by indictment and pleaded guilty to a felony information.

He did not change course in the joint motion to withdraw. Indeed, instead of seeking to invalidate

his guilty plea and proceed to trial, Hudson merely sought to exchange his guilty plea for another.

This factor, too, weighs against Hudson.

       4. Circumstances of Plea. Nothing in the record suggests that Hudson pleaded guilty with

an “unsure heart” or “confused mind.” See Alexander, 948 F.2d at 1004. As described in the third

factor, Hudson pleaded guilty from the outset. And he never wavered. The magistrate judge also

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No. 23-1341, United States v. Hudson

held a thorough Rule 11 hearing, which confirmed that Hudson entered his plea knowingly,

voluntarily, and intelligently. All of this further supports denying withdrawal. See United States

v. Giorgio, 802 F.3d 845, 848–49 (6th Cir. 2015); United States v. Catchings, 708 F.3d 710, 718–

19 (6th Cir. 2013).

       5. Defendant’s Nature and Background. Hudson’s background raises only one potential

concern that could favor withdrawal. As a teenager, Hudson suffered a traumatic brain injury after

being hit by a car. The district court, however, employed several measures to ensure that Hudson

could still understand the proceedings. For example, it delayed sentencing so that Hudson could

receive a neuropsychological test. And during the plea hearing, the magistrate judge asked if

Hudson, notwithstanding his brain injury, was competent to proceed. Hudson, his counsel, and

the United States all confirmed that they thought he was competent. The fact that Hudson earned

a certificate in business from a local community college further supports their position. This factor

slightly favors denying withdrawal.

       6. Experience with Criminal Justice System. Hudson has fairly extensive experience with

the criminal justice system. He has several adult convictions. True, they all came from state court.

But during those experiences, Hudson would still have obtained a “general understanding of the

criminal justice system and plea bargaining.” Carson, 32 F.4th at 625. This factor weighs against

Hudson.

       7. Prejudice to Government. All agree that the United States—which joined Hudson’s

motion—would not face prejudice if the court let Hudson withdraw his plea. Accordingly, as the

district court recognized, this factor “unequivocally weighs in favor of withdrawal.” Order, R.58

at PageID 301.

                                                -8-
No. 23-1341, United States v. Hudson

       Practical Stakes. Though not one of our typical factors, the district court also considered

the practical effects of granting the joint motion for withdrawal. On the one hand, the court would

have to expend some additional resources. Some delay would also follow. For example, the court

would have to hold another plea hearing. And the court would need to wait for a revised

presentence investigation report. On the other hand, Hudson would stand to receive two significant

benefits. First, his minimum term of supervised release would decrease to three years. Second,

Hudson would no longer face mandatory time in prison. Even so, Hudson’s guidelines range

would remain the same and exceed his initial charge’s mandatory minimum. On balance, this

consideration weighs slightly against Hudson.

                                          *      *       *

       In the end, our analysis generally aligns with the district court’s. We both determined that

(1) at least five of the seven factors weigh against withdrawal, and (2) irrespective of the motion’s

outcome, Hudson still faced a Sentencing Guidelines range over 120 months in prison. On this

record, the district court did not abuse its discretion in holding that Hudson did not present a fair

and just reason for withdrawal.1 Would we, faced with the same motion on a blank slate, reach a

different outcome? Considering the two factors that cut the other way, possibly. But that is not

the question before us. And we are hard-pressed to say that the district court abused its discretion

when it accurately applied our factors and, relying on most of them, denied relief.

1
  Other circuits, considering similar facts, have reached the same conclusion. For one example,
look to the First Circuit. In United States v. Moore, it held that a defendant did not present a fair
and just reason for withdrawal despite a “change in policy within the United States Attorney’s
Office.” 362 F.3d 129, 135 (1st Cir. 2004). For another, consider United States v. Carrillo-
Colorado. In that case, the Ninth Circuit held that the government’s new plea-bargaining policy
was not a fair and just reason for withdrawal. United States v. Carrillo-Colorado, 56 F.3d 73 (9th
Cir. 1995) (unpublished table decision).
                                                -9-
No. 23-1341, United States v. Hudson

                                                 B.

       Hudson argues that the district court abused its discretion for two main reasons. Neither

moves the needle in his favor.

                                                 1.

       First, Hudson contends that the district court’s analysis of the joint motion’s practical

stakes was lacking. Specifically, he (correctly) observes that the district court did not discuss the

potential decrease of his mandatory term of supervised release. Order, R.58 at PageID 302. But

that omission does not warrant reversal. Any one factor’s relevance depends on the circumstances

of the original plea and withdrawal request. Haygood, 549 F.3d at 1052. In this case, the crux of

the new charging policies—which motivated the joint motion to withdraw—focused on limiting

when prosecutors charge crimes with mandatory minimum imprisonment sentences. See General

Department Policies, supra, at 3; Additional Department Policies, supra, at 1–2. Accordingly, it

was reasonable for the district court to focus on that metric.

                                                 2.

       Second, Hudson generally contends that the district court erred by mechanically applying

the factors to his case. As he sees things, the joint motion presents a “unique situation.”

Appellant’s Br. 8, 16. So, he requests an “analysis taking those circumstances into consideration.”

Id. at 16. We have two responses.

       a. Despite Hudson’s argument that several of the factors are inapplicable, our caselaw

generally instructs district courts to consider all seven. See Bashara, 27 F.3d at 1181; Haygood,

549 F.3d at 1052. The only exception arises where a defendant fails to establish a fair and just

reason for withdrawal under the first six factors. Alexander, 948 F.2d at 1004. In that situation,

the government need not demonstrate prejudice because the defendant has not carried its burden.

                                               - 10 -
No. 23-1341, United States v. Hudson

Id. True, we have noted that the other factors’ specific relevance varies by case. Haygood, 549

F.3d at 1052. But we are not aware of any precedent interpreting that rule to mean the factors may

become wholly inapplicable. And Hudson does not direct us to any such cases.

       In fact, United States v. Miller, No. 14-3018, 2015 WL 13927032, at *3 (6th Cir. Apr. 17,

2015) (order), reinforces that district courts should apply all seven factors when presented with a

case like Hudson’s. In Miller, the defendant requested withdrawal “based on the issuance of the

Attorney General’s memorandum setting forth guidelines for when prosecutors should charge

mandatory minimum drug offenses.” Id. Still, this Court applied all of our primary factors. Id.

That approach is particularly persuasive as to Hudson’s case because he relies on essentially the

same basis in his request to withdraw his plea.

       b. The factors sufficiently cover the circumstances presented by Hudson’s case. Consider

the details that make his case unique: (1) the United States joined his withdrawal request; (2) the

parties’ motion asked the court to substitute one guilty plea for another—it did not require the case

to proceed to trial; and (3) the request was motivated by a change in charging policies, not simply

a change in the defendant’s heart.

       Our factors address all three circumstances. The fact that the motion was a joint request is

covered by the seventh factor—prejudice to the government. And it weighs heavily in Hudson’s

favor. Our factors also account for Hudson’s request to substitute guilty pleas, but perhaps not in

the way Hudson would hope. That detail underscores that Hudson, under the third factor, has not

asserted his innocence.2 Meanwhile, the second factor—whether the defendant has a valid reason

2
   This detail could have influenced the United States’ decision to join Hudson’s motion. As a
result, his request to substitute pleas may also factor into the prejudice (or lack thereof) that the
government stood to face. But we omit this point from our analysis because the United States
concedes, without explanation, that it would not suffer prejudice.
                                               - 11 -
No. 23-1341, United States v. Hudson

for failing to move for withdrawal earlier—accounts for the intervening change in charging

policies.

        The district court, applying the factors, also considered these intricacies. As we did in our

analysis, the district court noted that the change in charging policies “arguably weigh[ed]” in

Hudson’s favor. Order, R.58 at PageID 302. Albeit not explicitly, the court elsewhere weighed

the other details by determining that Hudson did not claim innocence and that there was no

prejudice to the United States. Id. at 301. And more generally, the district court recognized that

the case raised “an unusual situation.” Id. at 302.

                                          *       *       *

        For all these reasons, the district court did not abuse its discretion in applying our factors

to Hudson’s case.

                                       III. CONCLUSION

        The district court didn’t abuse its discretion. We AFFIRM.

                                                - 12 -