United States v. Walter Hampton

646 F. App'x 367
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedApril 21, 2016
Docket13-60404
StatusUnpublished

This text of 646 F. App'x 367 (United States v. Walter Hampton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth 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. Walter Hampton, 646 F. App'x 367 (5th Cir. 2016).

Opinion

PER CURIAM: *

Defendant-Appellant Walter Hampton pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute drugs and conspiracy to launder money. Twenty-two days later, Hampton filed a motion to withdraw his plea, which the district court denied. Hampton argues on appeal that the district court violated Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11 by accepting his plea and then abused its discretion in denying his motion to withdraw his plea. Because we find that both of his arguments lack merit, we AFFIRM.

I. BACKGROUND

On April 25, 2012, Hampton was indicted for conspiracy to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846' (“Count 1”) and conspiracy to launder drug proceeds in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h) (“Count 3”). 1 After initially pleading not guilty, Hampton signed a plea agreement in which he agreed to plead guilty to both counts.

On November 5, 2012, Hampton appeared in court to plead guilty in accordance with the plea agreement. At the outset of the plea hearing, Hampton expressed doubt about entering his 1 guilty plea. The court asked Hampton to confer with his attorney. After Hampton conferred with his counsel, Hampton’s counsel explained that Hampton was ready to plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute drugs but that Hampton did not believe he conspired to launder money in the manner the Government alleged. The court then gave Hampton an opportunity to confer with his defense counsel and the prosecuting attorney in order to decide how he wanted to plead. After conferring, Hampton told the court that he wished to plead guilty to both counts. The court confirmed that Hampton was entering his plea voluntarily. Hampton then conferred with his attorney a third time and accepted the terms of the negotiated plea agreement. The court acknowledged that Hampton had expressed concern about the money laundering charge and again confirmed that Hampton’s plea was knowing and voluntary as to that count. The court then accepted Hampton’s guilty plea to both counts.

*369 On November 27, 2012, twenty-two days after entering his guilty plea, Hampton filed a pro se letter with the district court seeking to withdraw his plea. At a hearing in January 2013, Hampton explained that he only pleaded guilty to Count 3 because his defense counsel advised him the court would not accept different pleas for each count. After reviewing Hampton’s claims under the test set forth in United States v. Carr, 740 F.2d 339, 344 (5th Cir.1984), the district court denied his motion. In May 2013, the court sentenced Hampton to concurrent terms of 205 months for each count. Hampton timely appealed.

II. DISCUSSION

Hampton raises two issues on appeal. First, he argues that the district court violated Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11 by failing to ensure that his plea was made knowingly and voluntarily. Second, he argues the district court abused its discretion by denying his motion to withdraw his guilty plea.

A. Rule 11 Violation

As Hampton failed to raise a Rule 11 objection in the district court, we review this claim for plain error. See United States v. Dominguez Benitez, 542 U.S. 74, 76, 124 S.Ct. 2333, 159 L.Ed.2d 157 (2004). “Plain error review requires the appellant to show (1) there is an error, (2) that is clear and obvious, and (3) that affects his substantial rights.” United States v. Marek, 238 F.3d 310, 315 (5th Cir.2001) (en banc). If these are established, we retain discretion to correct the error if it “seriously affects the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings.” Id. (citing United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 735-36, 113 S.Ct. 1770, 123 L.Ed.2d 508 (1993)).

Rule 11 requires that the district court “inform the defendant of, and determine that the defendant understands ... the right to plead not guilty.” Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(b)(1)(B). The district court must also “determine that the plea is voluntary.” Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(b)(2). To satisfy this obligation, the district court must conduct a colloquy and determine that “the defendant understands what he is admitting and what the consequences of that admission may be, as well as that what he is admitting constitutes the crime charged, and that his admission is voluntarily made.” United States v. Rodriguez-DeMaya, 674 F.2d 1122, 1125-26 (5th Cir.1982) (quoting United States v. Dayton, 604 F.2d 931, 943 (5th Cir.1979) (en banc)).

Hampton argues the district court erred by not advising him that he could plead separately to each count. Hampton asserts that he pleaded guilty to Count 3 only because his counsel advised him the court would not allow him to plead guilty to one count and not guilty to the other. Hampton likens his case to United States v. Neal, 509 Fed.Appx. 302 (5th Cir.2013), where we held that the district court violated Rule 11 when it told the defendant “[y]ou need to either plead guilty ... or go to trial,” as this may have implied the defendant’s “choice was binary — that he could either plead guilty to all charges or go to trial on all charges.” Id. at 305, 308-09.

Unlike Neal, however, the record here reveals the district court treated each count separately and confirmed that Hampton’s plea to each count was knowing and voluntary. After Hampton confirmed that he was ready to plead guilty to Count 1 but had doubts about Count 3, the court asked Hampton to confer with his defense counsel and the prosecutor and decide how he would like to plead to Count 3 specifically. When Hampton returned and stat *370 ed that he wanted to plead guilty to Count 3, the court asked, “Tell me what changed your mind about entering a plea to Count 3.” Hampton replied: “Because I gave somebody $4,500, and that’s the reason they said I money laundering.” At the end of. the colloquy, the court acknowledged that Hampton had raised concerns about pleading to Count 3 and confirmed again that Hampton’s plea was knowing and voluntary with respect to that count.

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Related

United States v. Marek
238 F.3d 310 (Fifth Circuit, 2001)
United States v. McElhaney
469 F.3d 382 (Fifth Circuit, 2006)
United States v. Olano
507 U.S. 725 (Supreme Court, 1993)
United States v. Dominguez Benitez
542 U.S. 74 (Supreme Court, 2004)
United States v. John L. Morrow
537 F.2d 120 (Fifth Circuit, 1976)
United States v. Winston Eugene Dayton
604 F.2d 931 (Fifth Circuit, 1979)
United States v. Nora Rodriguez-Demaya
674 F.2d 1122 (Fifth Circuit, 1982)
United States v. Michael Carr
740 F.2d 339 (Fifth Circuit, 1984)
United States v. Raymond Eugene Badger
925 F.2d 101 (Fifth Circuit, 1991)
United States v. Byron Neal
509 F. App'x 302 (Fifth Circuit, 2013)

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646 F. App'x 367, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-walter-hampton-ca5-2016.