United States v. Allen

53 F. App'x 367
Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit·Decided December 26, 2002·No. No. 01-3375·Published·Cited by 12 cases

Opinion

[368]*368OPINION

ARTHUR J. TARNOW, District Judge.

On June 21, 2000, Defendant Winston Alen was indicted for conspiracy to distribute marijuana (Count I) and for attempted possession of marijuana with intent to distribute (Count III). Prior to trial, the district court established a plea-bargain cut-off date of Wednesday. August 23, 2000. Initially, defendant expressed his intent to accept the plea bargain, but he changed his mind, and the case was set for trial on Monday, August 28, 2000. The night before trial, after the deadline passed, he informed his lawyer that he wanted to accept the plea bargain. On the day of trial, his attorney asked the district court judge to extend the cut-off date, but she declined to do so. Defendant’s remaining options were to either go to trial or change his plea to guilty to all the charges in the indictment without a plea bargain. He chose the latter. Under the plea bargain, the government’s sentence range recommendation would have been between 51 and 63 months. Without the plea bargain, the sentence range was 70 to 87 months. Defendant was ultimately sentenced to 70 months imprisonment.

On appeal, defendant asserts trial counsel was ineffective for failing to advise him of the cut-off date. He asserts that had he been made aware of the plea bargain cutoff date, he would have accepted the plea prior to the cut-off date, thereby gaining a reduction in his sentence. If defendant did receive ineffective assistance, he may be entitled to as much as a 19-month reduction in his sentence. Since the record regarding whether defendant received ineffective assistance of counsel is not sufficient, we REMAND the case to the district court for an evidentiary hearing on that issue.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On June 21, 2000, Defendant Winston Alen was indicted, with three co-defendants, for conspiracy to distribute marijuana (Count 1) in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846. He was also indicted, with one co-defendant, for attempted possession of marijuana with intent to distribute (Count III) in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1).

In two orders, dated June 28 and July 25, 2000, the district court established that plea agreements would not be accepted within forty-eight hours of trial. The orders explicitly stated that “[thereafter, defendant will be obliged to go to trial or plead guilty to all offenses charged in the indictment.” The orders also stated that in the event of a Monday trial, plea agreements would be accepted until 5:00 p.m. the Wednesday before. The July 25 order established a trial date of Monday. August 28, 2000, so the plea cut-off date was Wednesday, August 23, 2000.

On August 21, 2000, the prosecutor faxed a proposed plea agreement to defense counsel. The plea agreement called for a guilty plea to one of the two counts, the conspiracy count, and dismissal of the other count. It also called for a base offense level of 28, with a recommendation for a downward departure of five points. The recommendation was based on acceptance of responsibility and for being a minor participant in the alleged crimes.

On August 22, 2000, attorney Lewis visited defendant at the jail to discuss the plea offer. Defendant contended the meeting only lasted twenty to thirty minutes. At the end of the meeting, defendant signed the plea agreement. Mr. Lewis informed the court, and a change of plea hearing was set for Friday, August 25, 2000.

[369]*369At some point prior to Friday, defendant left a message for his attorney that he needed to talk to him and that he changed his mind about the plea. He had some questions or concerns about the plea that he wanted to discuss with his attorney. Mr. Lewis informed the court on August 24, 2000, that his client no longer wished to change his plea, but he did not contact his client.

On Sunday, August 27, 2000, the day before trial, Mr. Lewis met with defendant at the jail. They talked again about the plea agreement, and defendant’s concerns with the plea agreement were satisfied. He expressed that he again wanted to accept the plea, and Mr. Lewis faxed a letter to the prosecutor to that effect. Defendant asserts that Mr. Lewis told him that the United States District Attorney said the plea agreement was still available and that he would enter the plea on the day of trial.

However, on the day of trial, August 28, 2000, when Mr. Lewis informed the court that his client wished to enter a plea under the plea agreement, both the judge and the prosecutor indicated that the offer was no longer available. Mr. Lewis sought an exception to the 48-hour rule, but the judge declined to grant an exception and informed him that his remaining options were to either to go to trial or change his plea to guilty on all the charges without the benefit of a plea bargain. After consultation with counsel, defendant chose the latter.

On August 30, 2000, the defendant wrote a letter to the court pleading for a lenient sentence. He explained that he was first told about the plea offer on August 22, 2000, and he was only given twenty to thirty minutes to think about it and sign it. He asked his attorney if he could have a day to think about it, but Mr. Lewis refused. He asserted that he did not know that there was an outside time limit on the plea. He also stated that he could not reach his attorney on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. His attorney was supposed to visit him on Thursday evening, but he never arrived. When he finally talked to his attorney on Sunday, the attorney alleviated his concerns and told him the plea offer was still available, so defendant agreed to accept the plea offer. He said that he first discovered that he was only supposed to have 48-hours to consider the plea when he appeared in court on August 28.

In a second letter to the court, received October 30, 2000, defendant described his continuing dissatisfaction with the quality of his lawyer. Mr. Lewis. He asserted that he saw his attorney a total of five or six times, fifteen to thirty minutes each time. Defendant stated that every time he tried to talk about the discrepancies in the proof against him. Mr. Lewis would tell him it could wait until next time. On the Sunday before trial, he realized that his attorney was not ready for a trial, so he begged Mr. Lewis to ask for a continuance; Mr. Lewis informed him the judge would not allow it. Mr. Allen said that he decided to plead guilty due to his attorney’s unpreparedness and the professed unavailability of a continuance. He further explained that he accepted the plea reluctantly, on the advice of his lawyer, whom he trusted because he was “one who studied law.” However, now he sees that his attorney was only trying to push him into a plea, so he would not have to try the case.

In the letter, Mr. Allen also explained that he had only seen his attorney once since the guilty plea, and then, only because Mr. Lewis was upset about the first letter Mr. Allen sent to the judge. He said, “I have questions to ask, things I need to know about my case. Mr. Lewis [370]*370put a block on his phone and cut all contact with me and my case. We have no communication whatsoever.”

Finally, he contended in the letter that he initially refused to talk to the presentence investigator, Mr. Grawe, without his attorney present. Mr. Grawe returned with Mr.

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United States v. Allen, 53 F. App'x 367 (6th Cir. 2002).

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