Urena-Torres v. United States

173 F.R.D. 41, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8194, 1997 WL 307853
District Court, N.D. New York·Decided June 4, 1997·No. No. 95-CV-801·Published

Opinion

MEMORANDUM-DECISION AND ORDER

McAVOY, Chief Judge.

I. BACKGROUND

Pending before this Court is Defendant’s Motion to Reargue or Reconsider the Court’s Memorandum-Decision & Order of February 26, 1996. On May 2, 1994, defendant, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, pleaded guilty to re-entry after deportation, 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a)(1), (2), and reentry after having committed an aggravated felony 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(2). On September 5, 1995, defendant was sentenced to a term of seventy months imprisonment, and upon release, supervised release for two years.

In a Decision dated February 26,1996, this Court denied petitioner’s 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion to vacate, set aside, or correct his sentence either on the basis that (1) the Court violated Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(c)(1) by accepting defendant’s plea when defendant had not been advised by the Court of the maximum penalty he faced under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(2) if he pleaded guilty, or (2) defendant had ineffective assistance of counsel as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment insofar as his counsel incorrectly advised him that the maximum sentence he could receive would not be in excess of two years imprisonment.

On February 28, 1996, defendant filed the present application to have this Court reconsider his § 2255 claim. Defendant is currently serving his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Fort Dix, New Jersey.

II. DISCUSSION

Reconsideration of a prior decision is discretionary, and is generally compelled only by “an intervening change of controlling law, the availability of new evidence, or the need to correct a clear error or prevent manifest injustice.” See Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. v. National Mediation Bd., 956 F.2d 1245, 1255 (2d Cir.), cert denied, 506 U.S. 820, 113 S.Ct. 67, 121 L.Ed.2d 34 (1992) (citation omitted). Here, defendant premises his motion on the third factor, clear error and manifest injustice. As grounds for his motion defendant contends that (1) the Court’s denial of his Rule 11 claim was contrary to prior Second Circuit holdings; and (2) his counsel’s failure to advise him of the [43] correct statutory maximum penalty constituted ineffective assistance in violation of the Sixth Amendment.

A. Rule 11 Claim

Before accepting a defendant’s guilty plea, a Court must comply with Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(c), which states:

Before accepting a plea of guilty or nolo contendré, the court must address the defendant personally in open court and inform him of, and determine that he understands the following: (1) the nature of the charge to which the plea is offered, the mandatory minimum penalty provided by law, if any, and the maximum possible penalty provided by law.

The defendant contends that the Court incorrectly denied his § 2255 motion when the Court accepted his guilty plea at his May 2, 1994 plea hearing because the Court had an Assistant United States Attorney advise him of the maximum penalty he faced rather than the Court itself informing him of the same. The defendant claims this failute by the Court violates Fed. R.Crim. P. 11, and thus mandates granting defendant’s § 2255 motion.

With respect to Rule 11 requirements, defendant correctly asserts that the Second Circuit adheres to a doctrine of strict compliance. See United States v. Journet, 544 F.2d 633 (2d Cir.1976). The defendant’s position seems to be that “strict compliance” equates to literal adherence to the letter of Fed. R.Crim.P. Rule 11. As will be shown below, the cases do not require such an interpretation. Thus, the Court properly denied defendant’s § 2255 claim under the law of this jurisdiction.

As an initial matter, Rule 11 itself specifically states that “any variance from the procedure required by this rule which does not affect substantial rights shall be disregarded.” (emphasis added). Thus, by its very terms, Rule 11 requires less than literal adherence to each word stated therein. In the instant case, defendant was informed of the maximum penalty he faced. This occurred at the hearing, in open court, and on the record. Moreover, the defendant informed the Court that he understood what he was told. The fact that he was advised by the Assistant United States Attorney rather than the Court, did not affect his substantive rights. What is important, and in this Court’s view “substantial” for the purposes of Fed.R.Crim.P. 11, is that the defendant expressly was advised of the maximum penalty at the May 2,1996 hearing, not that a particular personage so advised him. Accordingly, defendant is not entitled to collateral relief under § 2255 since “all that is shown is a failure to comply with formal requirements of the Rule.” See United States v. Timmreck, 441 U.S. 780, 785, 99 S.Ct. 2085, 2088, 60 L.Ed.2d 634 (1979) (emphasis added), citing Hill v. United States, 368 U.S. 424, 428, 82 S.Ct. 468, 471, 7 L.Ed.2d 417 (1962).

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Urena-Torres v. United States, 173 F.R.D. 41, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8194, 1997 WL 307853 (N.D.N.Y. 1997).

173 F.R.D. 41 (Urena-Torres v. United States) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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