United States v. Hughes

223 F. Supp. 477, 1963 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6512
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJune 21, 1963
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 223 F. Supp. 477 (United States v. Hughes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Hughes, 223 F. Supp. 477, 1963 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6512 (S.D.N.Y. 1963).

Opinion

HERLANDS, District Judge.

This is a motion by the defendant pursuant to Rule 32(d), F.R.Crim.Pro., for leave to withdraw his plea of guilty to Count 32 (the conspiracy count) of Indictment Number 60 Cr. 980 and to enter a plea of not guilty. This motion was brought on by an order to show cause, dated April 26, 1963, returnable May 1, 1963.

On May 1, 1963, the Court ordered a full hearing on the motion. Testimony was taken on May 1, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25 and 28, 1963.

Indictment No. 60 Cr. 980, filed on November 18, 1960, named the defendant in 32 counts.

On December 12, 1960, the defendant pleaded not guilty. In December, 1960, Thomas A. Solan, Esq., was retained as his attorney by the defendant.

Thereafter, Jerome J. Londin, Executive Assistant United States Attorney, (who was in charge of the case) and Bolán had a number of conversations. Among other things, they explored the possibility of a change in plea by the defendant; they discussed the count or counts to which the defendant might enter his guilty plea; they delineated the salient positions of the United States Attorney and the defendant relative to each other after the defendant shall have pleaded guilty in the event the defendant did plead guilty, such as, the question of adverse publicity in connection with the defendant’s change of plea, the attitude of the Government with respect to possibly other criminal proceedings, the extent of the defendant’s possible cooperation with the Government and the Government’s stand on the day of sentencing in the light of such cooperation as the defendant shall have actually given by that time

I.

There are fundamental differences between the Government and the defense as to (inter alia) the nature and extent of the cooperation that the defendant was supposed to give to the Government; and as to the nature and extent of the defendant’s actual cooperation with the Government and the manner in which the Government has conducted itself in seeking to obtain the defendant’s cooperation.

There is also a basic controversy between the Government and the defense as to whether the defendant was induced to plead guilty by virtue of an alleged assurance, promise or representation by the Government that the defendant would be given the privilege of obtaining one or more adjournments of the sentencing in Room 318 (where the criminal calendar and criminal motion part of the court is ordinarily held) in order to by-pass one or two judges whose alleged reputation for severity made them undesirable from the defendant’s viewpoint.

On April 3, 1961, the defendant, with the advice of counsel, pleaded guilty to the 32nd count of the indictment. The minutes of the proceedings before Judge Metzner on April 3, 1961 are an exhibit herein (Exh. D. See Record of hearings upon the present motion, May 1, 1963, p. 43 et seq.; Record of May 23, 1963, p. 390). Before accepting the plea of guilty, Judge Metzner searchingly inquired into the pertinent circumstances.

Among the questions and answers in the record of the April 3, 1961 proceedings is the following:

“Q Has anything been promised or offered you to induce you to change your plea from not guilty to guilty?
“A No, your Honor.”

Upon the hearing of the present motion, the defendant expressly reaffirmed the truthfulness of his answer to Judge Metzner’s question. (Hughes, Record of [479]*479May 28, 1963, p. 845.) However, the defendant claims — and this claim poses another crucial difference between the defense and the Government — that in so answering Judge Metzner’s question he understood the question to refer to whether he had been promised or guaranteed a specific sentence (Hughes, Record of May 28, 1963, pp. 830, 832, 843).

The Government argues that the defendant’s unequivocal answer to Judge Metzner’s simple and clear question demonstrates that the defendant’s current claims are a spurious afterthought.

II.

To determine the merits of the rival contentions of the opposing parties, the Court has conducted a plenary inquiry into the facts and has given comprehensive consideration to such legal authorities as the parties have cited in their memoranda as pertinent to the controlling issues.

The Government concedes that Bolán, the defendant’s attorney, told the defendant “whatever the Government told Mr. Bolán” (Record of May 21, 1963, pp. 259, 264, 272, 291, 306-307)

The defendant does not claim that Mr. Bolán, the defendant’s attorney, failed to disclose any materal fact to the defendant or that he said or did anything that constitutes incompetence, negligence, or misstatements (Record of May 21, 1963, pp. 270, 280). The defendant, moreover, does not claim that his attorney distorted or exaggerated what the Government told him when he reported the conversations and negotiations with the Government representatives (Record of May 23,1963, pp. 415, 423, 425, 426).

There is no claim that the defendant was induced to plead guilty by means of any coercion or pressure. It is undisputed that the defendant changed his plea from not guilty to guilty voluntarily, knowledgeably and with the comprehensive advice of his attorney (Record of May 23, 1963, p. 429).

III.

The defendant’s attorney and the defendant equivocated between (1) the claim that there had been “representations” by Mr. Londin but no promises) (Schachner, Record of May 20, 1963, p. 31); (2) the claim that there had been “promises” (Schachner, Record of April 26, 1963, pp. 8,12-13, 14); (3) the claim that there had been neither representations (Schachner, Record of May 1, 1963, p. 37) nor promises but assurances that aroused expectations (Schachner, Record of May 20, 1963, pp. 32-33); and finally, (4) the claim that the defendant’s motion should be granted even if there had been no representations.

Thus (Record of 5/23/63, p. 429), Mr. Schachner declared:

“* * * the plea * * * was induced by a variety of practical considerations. It was in part by representations on the part of the Government which may not have risen on [to] the dignity of what should properly be called promises. At least some of them may not have. I do believe, however, that the prosecuting arm of the Federal Government should live up to an ethics higher than that of the witches in Macbeth who hold out promises to the ear and deny it to the hope. I think expectations were aroused. They were aroused very reasonably.”

With reference to Londin’s statement about the Government’s statement to the sentencing judge concerning the defendant’s cooperation, Mr. Schachner declared (minutes, 5/23/63, pp. 430-431, 432) :

“ * * * he said that that was not in the form of a promise; that it was expressly said that nothing could be promised along these lines but that he, Mr. Bolán, could rely on the good faith of the Government.”

Defendant’s memorandum (filed May 17, 1963), page 3, speaks of “the issue of what expectations they [Government [480]*480representatives] aroused, what expectations they disappointed and what expectations were related to the defendant.” (Emphasis added.)

The amorphous character of the defense claims in these respects has required an objective and intensive in•quiry into the evidentiary facts.

IV.

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Related

United States v. McBride
571 F. Supp. 596 (S.D. Texas, 1983)
United States Ex Rel. Thurmond v. Mancusi
275 F. Supp. 508 (E.D. New York, 1967)
United States v. Paul M. Hughes
325 F.2d 789 (Second Circuit, 1964)

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Bluebook (online)
223 F. Supp. 477, 1963 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6512, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-hughes-nysd-1963.