United States v. Heldon

579 F. Supp. 1299, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20371
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedJanuary 17, 1984
DocketCrim. No. 79-153
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 579 F. Supp. 1299 (United States v. Heldon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Heldon, 579 F. Supp. 1299, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20371 (E.D. Pa. 1984).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

TROUTMAN, District Judge.

Contending that his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights were violated due to the Court’s alleged non-compliance with the re[1300]*1300quirements of FED.R.CRIM.P. 11 and the ineffective assistance of his retained counsel, petitioner Alan Heldon has moved to vacate, set aside or correct his sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255.1

Petitioner was indicted with co-defendants Randy Johnston and Michael Brewer on June 21, 1979. The twenty-eight-count indictment included a charge, in Count 1, of conspiracy to distribute phencyclidine (hereafter PCP). The remaining counts consisted of charges of either distribution or possession with intent to distribute PCP.

Petitioner pleaded nolo contendere to counts one through seventeen, inclusive, and twenty through twenty-eight, inclusive, on October 16, 1979. On February 13, 1980, he was sentenced, on Counts 1 and 2, to consecutive five-year prison terms. Count 2 also included a two-year special parole term which was to run consecutively to the terms of imprisonment imposed under Counts 1 and 2. In addition, petitioner was sentenced to a five-year term of probation on each of seventeen other counts. The probationary terms were to run concurrently with each other, but consecutively to the sentences imposed under Counts 1 and 2. Lastly, the sentences were to run consecutively to any sentences petitioner may have received in any state court.

Petitioner's counsel filed a motion for reduction of sentence pursuant to FED.R. CRIM.P. 35 which was granted on September 22, 1980. The Court modified the prison sentences imposed under Counts 1 and 2 to run concurrently with each other. In addition, the probationary terms on each of the remaining counts were reduced to two years and were further modified to run concurrently with the two-year special parole term imposed under Count 2. The Court did not alter its prior mandate that the sentences run consecutively to any state court sentences imposed upon the petitioner.

Petitioner asserts that the Court violated the strictures of FED.R.CRIM.P. 11 by failing to determine:

1. whether the petitioner understood the nature of the charge, including the maximum possible penalty under the law;
2. whether there was a factual basis for the plea;
3. whether the plea was being entered into voluntarily;
4. whether the petitioner understood that he had a right to plead not guilty, to be tried by a jury, to confront and cross-examine all witnesses against him, and not to be compelled to incriminate himself;
5. whether the petitioner understood that the court's acceptance of the plea would result in his waiver of his right to trial; and
6. whether the petitioner knew that any answers he gave under oath and on the record could later be used against him in a prosecution for perjury.

Moreover, he contends that the representation he received from his retained counsel amounted to “ineffective assistance” in two respects. First, he argues that he had no choice but to plead nolo contendere due to counsel’s inadequate preparation of a defense. He specifically points to counsel’s alleged failure to conduct an investigation into the evidence supporting the indictment, to interview witnesses, and to do legal research. Secondly, petitioner claims his nolo plea was the product of the faulty advice and misrepresentations of defense counsel particularly in regards to the existence of a plea agreement with the Government. This latter contention required that we conduct a hearing to determine what factual basis, if any, exists to support it.

Consequently, on November 2, 1983, a full evidentiary hearing was held primarily to illuminate the facts surrounding petitioner’s claim of ineffective assistance of counsel as it pertained to plea negotiations and the existence of a plea agreement. As to the other claims, the record was sufficiently complete to enable the Court to give them proper consideration. Moreover, at the close of the hearing, and in the face of [1301]*1301uncontradicted testimony and other evidence to the contrary, plaintiff abandoned his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel as it pertained to the issue of his counsel’s inadequate preparation of a defense. (Motion Hearing Transcript at pp. 147-149, 151). Therefore, we address the remaining two claims in the order in which the petitioner presents them in his motion.

Petitioner’s Rule 11 claim, as previously described, need not detain us. After a nearly verbatim statement of the language of the Rule, petitioner argues that the Court complied with none of its requirements. He does not support his contentions by pointing to specific omissions by the Court during the colloquy. Instead, he cites holdings in a host of cases generally discussing Rule 11 issues and baldly asserts that the cases from which those holdings were taken are equivalent to the case at bar. No effort is made to analyze and compare the facts of those cases to the facts of the instant matter. Moreover, to the extent petitioner’s motion raises factual questions, such questions are directed more properly to his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel as it concerns the existence of a plea agreement. While there is a certain amount of overlap of issues, e.g., voluntariness of the plea, between the Rule 11 claim and the ineffective assistance claim, we are here primarily concerned with the objective record of the change of plea colloquy.

The record evinces the Court’s determination that the petitioner understood the nature of the charge, including the maximum possible penalty (Change of Plea Transcript pp. 6-15, 40-42), that there was a factual basis for the plea (C.P.T. pp. 19-33, 43), that the plea was entered into voluntarily (C.P.T. pp. 5, 33, 36-40, 43), that the petitioner understood his rights to plead not guilty, to a jury trial, to confront and cross-examine all witnesses against him, and to the presumption of innocence, i.e., that he need not be compelled to incriminate himself (C.P.T. pp. 33-35), and, finally, that the petitioner understood that the Court’s acceptance of the plea would result in a waiver of his rights. (C.P.T. p. 35).

Hence, none of the crucial core inquiries and advice was overlooked by the Court. The lone omission was the failure to advise the petitioner that any answers he might give under oath in response to questions from the Court about the offense may later be used against him in a prosecution for perjury. Petitioner argues that this “oversight” alone requires a vacation of the sentence. He cites, in support of his proposition, the case of United States v. Boat right, 588 F.2d 471, 475 (5th Cir.1979).

Petitioner’s contention is without merit for several reasons. First, under FED.R. CRIM.P. 11(c)(5), the Court need only so advise the defendant “if the court intends to question the defendant under oath, on the record, and in the presence of counsel about the offense ”. (emphasis added).

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Related

Appeal of Heldon (Alan Richard)
746 F.2d 1467 (Third Circuit, 1984)
United States v. Heldon (Alan)
746 F.2d 1468 (Third Circuit, 1984)

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Bluebook (online)
579 F. Supp. 1299, 1984 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20371, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-heldon-paed-1984.