United States v. Melvin C. Wetterlin

583 F.2d 346
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedSeptember 27, 1978
Docket77-1716
StatusPublished
Cited by74 cases

This text of 583 F.2d 346 (United States v. Melvin C. Wetterlin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Melvin C. Wetterlin, 583 F.2d 346 (7th Cir. 1978).

Opinion

HARLINGTON WOOD, Jr., Circuit Judge.

Defendant-appellant Wetterlin was indicted for his participation in a scheme which allegedly involved the unlawful taking by himself and others, 1 including public officials and contractors, of more than two million dollars from a public works project in East Chicago. On January 31, 1977, after entering into negotiations with the government, 2 Mr. Wetterlin entered pleas of guilty to Counts I and X of the indictment. In February the government sought to have the plea revoked, which the defendant resisted. The court permitted the plea to stand. 3 Subsequently the defendant obtained new counsel who challenged the procedures employed by the court at the January plea hearing, alleging that they failed to comply with the procedural requirements for accepting a guilty plea mandated by Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, and asserted that Mr. Wetterlin was now denying his guilt. At the May 24, 1977, disposition hearing the court indicated that “serious questions” had been raised by the defendant and that it was not prepared to go forward with the *349 sentencing. At the June 29, 1977, disposition hearing the district judge indicated that he felt he “had been had” and despite defendant’s continued denials of guilt as to Counts I and X and his argument that the court had not complied with Rule 11, the court refused to either set aside the plea or to allow defendant to withdraw his plea of guilty to Counts I and X. 4 The court sentenced defendant under 18 U.S.C. § 4205(b)(2), to eighteen months on each count, to run concurrently, plus a $5,000 fine on Count I. Wetterlin appeals from his conviction and sentence and seeks to have his pleas of guilty vacated and to be allowed to plead again because the district court failed to comply with the requirements of Rule ll. 5

Specifically, defendant Wetterlin argues that the court did not comply with Rule 11(c)(1) because it failed to inform him of and determine that he understood the nature of the charge to which the pleas were offered, and did not comply with Rule 11(f) and (g) because it failed to establish on the record the factual basis for the pleas. The government in response argues that “based on all the circumstances surrounding the defendant’s plea, there [is] substantial evidence that he understood the nature of the charges against him” in both Counts. The government also contends that the record of the plea hearing on January 31, 1977 reveals a sufficient factual basis for each of the pleas. In regard to the conspiracy count the government further argues that since judgment was not entered until later, under the language of Rule 11(f) the judge was free to consider the evidence he heard at the trial of defendant’s alleged co-conspirators to determine whether there was a factual basis for that plea.

I. COUNT I

A. Advice Concerning the Nature of the Charge.

The Supreme Court has stated that because a plea of guilty is itself a conviction, it “shall not be accepted unless made volun *350 tarily after proper advice and with full understanding of the consequences.” Kercheval v. United States, 274 U.S. 220, 47 S.Ct. 582, 71 L.Ed. 1009 (1927). Rule 11 has always required compliance with this mandate and now section (c), amended in 1975, sets forth with specificity not only the method to be used in giving this advice: “the court must address the defendant personally in open court and inform him of, and determine that he understands . .”; but also the particular advice which must be given, subsection (1) specifying that the court must inform and determine that the defendant understands “the nature of the charges to which the plea is offered.”

In Count I the defendant and six others were charged with a complex conspiracy involving the use of the mails in furtherance of a scheme to defraud the East Chicago, Indiana, Board of Sanitary Commissioners and the citizens of that district, as well as the use of interstate and foreign commerce with the intent to bribe public officials. The charge of “conspiracy” is not a self-explanatory legal term or so simple in meaning that it can be expected or assumed that a lay person understands it. That is particularly true of the conspiracy charge in this case, which took up 25 pages, involved 48 paragraphs and 64 overt acts. However, the district judge failed to ever mention at the time of the plea hearing the nature of the charges in Count I, even, to describe it generally as a conspiracy. The judge made no effort to explain the law of conspiracy generally or by reference to the specific charge of this case, nor did he personally inquire and determine that the defendant understood the nature of the charges. 6 Particularly under the circumstances of this case involving a complex conspiracy, we feel the judge should not have assumed that the defendant already knew and understood what the charges were, but rather the court should have assumed he was ignorant of the charges and thus used the hearing to inform the defendant “of some aspects of legal argot and other legal concepts that are esoteric to an accused.” United States v. Coronado, 554 F.2d 166 (5th Cir. 1977). The Supreme Court in McCarthy v. United States, 394 U.S. 459, 467, 89 S.Ct. 1166, 22 L.Ed.2d 418 (1969), noted that the purposes and goals of Rule 11 are undermined when the court resorts to “assumptions,” instead of establishing a record based on defendant’s responses to the court’s questioning, finding that there cannot be compliance with Rule 11 where the “district judge does not personally inquire whether the defendant understands] the nature of the charge.” This court has also previously held that for the judge to inquire of the defendant whether he has discussed the charges with his attorney, as the judge did in the instant case, does not satisfy the McCarthy mandate or Rule ll. 7 Majko v. United States, 457 F.2d 790 (7th Cir. 1972). We feel that any bur *351 den the requirements of Rule 11 place on the court or the district judge is inconsequential in light of its salutary goal of insuring that guilty pleas are voluntarily and intelligently made.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Littleghost
2025 ND 65 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 2025)
State v. Yancey
2021 NMCA 009 (New Mexico Court of Appeals, 2020)
United States v. Siamak Fard
775 F.3d 939 (Seventh Circuit, 2015)
State of Iowa v. Craig Anthony Finney
834 N.W.2d 46 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 2013)
Hopper v. State
957 N.E.2d 613 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2011)
United States v. Heid
651 F.3d 850 (Eighth Circuit, 2011)
United States v. Pineda-Buenaventura
622 F.3d 761 (Seventh Circuit, 2010)
Williams v. State
31 So. 3d 69 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2010)
Miller v. State
970 A.2d 332 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2009)
State v. CARMELO T.
955 A.2d 687 (Connecticut Appellate Court, 2008)
United States v. Radick, Thomas
261 F. App'x 891 (Seventh Circuit, 2008)
State v. Crowe
168 S.W.3d 731 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 2005)
State v. Philo
697 N.W.2d 481 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 2005)
State v. Mayer
84 P.3d 579 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 2004)
United States v. Terrance E. Blalock
321 F.3d 686 (Seventh Circuit, 2003)
United States v. Guillermo Fernandez
205 F.3d 1020 (Seventh Circuit, 2000)
Donovan Howard v. United States
135 F.3d 506 (Seventh Circuit, 1998)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
583 F.2d 346, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-melvin-c-wetterlin-ca7-1978.