U.S. v. Buckley, s. 85-1500
| Citation | 847 F.2d 991 |
| Decision Date | 04 January 1988 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 85-1500,86-1755 and 87-2126,s. 85-1500 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. David K. BUCKLEY, Defendant, Appellant. David K. BUCKLEY, Petitioner, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Respondent, Appellee. . Heard |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (1st Circuit) |
Martha R. Reeves, by Appointment of the Court, for appellant David K. Buckley in Nos. 85-1500 and 86-1755.
David K. Buckley, pro se in No. 87-2126.
Margaret D. McGaughey, Asst. U.S. Atty., with whom Richard S. Cohen, U.S. Atty., Portland, Me., and William H. Browder, Jr., Asst. U.S. Atty., Bangor, Me., were on brief, for appellee.
Before CAMPBELL, Chief Judge, and BREYER and SELYA, Circuit Judges.
Appellant David Buckley was indicted by a grand jury for violations of federal drug laws. He pleaded guilty to one of the two charges against him, and was sentenced to five years in jail. Seven months later, Buckley sought to withdraw his guilty plea on the ground that he had been mentally incompetent when he tendered it. The district court denied this motion, a decision from which Buckley now appeals. He also complains of certain irregularities in the procedures attending his sentencing. 1
A. Background
Buckley and three others were indicted in May 1984 for their alleged involvement in a drug smuggling operation along the Maine coast. Count I of the indictment charged the four with conspiracy to possess marijuana with the intent to distribute it, in violation of 21 U.S.C. Secs. 846, 841(a)(1) (1982); Count II charged them with the underlying offense, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(a)(1) (1982). After the indictment was returned, Buckley, his attorney (Keefe), and the government prosecutor (Browder) entered into a written plea agreement, under which Buckley promised to plead guilty to the conspiracy charge (Count I) in exchange for the government's promise to dismiss the possession charge (Count II) against him and not to seek an indictment of Buckley's younger brother, John Buckley, for whatever involvement he may have had in the alleged drug operation.
The parties agreed that Buckley would be arraigned and would enter his guilty plea on June 15, 1984. But due either to a conflict in Keefe's schedule or to Buckley's firing Keefe, Buckley appeared before the court pro se on June 15, 1984. The district court engaged Buckley in a plea colloquy as required by Fed.R.Crim.P. 11, advising him several times to retain--or have the court appoint--a lawyer. During the colloquy Buckley said, inter alia, 1) that he was "emotionally disturbed," 2) that he was innocent of the charged offenses, 3) that the government had violated his rights by presenting illegally obtained evidence to the grand jury, and 4) that he wished to plead guilty even though he was innocent in order to protect his brother. Based on these and other statements by Buckley, and on the general discursiveness of his responses to the court's questions, the court rejected Buckley's guilty plea, and directed the clerk to enter a plea of not guilty. The case was continued without prejudice to Buckley's right to plead guilty later.
Two weeks later, on June 29, 1984, Buckley, accompanied by Keefe, appeared before the court and offered again to plead guilty under the terms of the aforementioned written plea agreement. It was the explicit understanding of the court and the parties that Buckley's plea was an Alford plea (North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 91 S.Ct. 160, 27 L.Ed.2d 162 (1970)), that is, Buckley, without explicitly admitting his guilt, would plead guilty in order to receive the benefits of the plea agreement. The court again engaged Buckley in a plea colloquy in order to ensure that his plea was knowing and voluntary. Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(c) & (d). 2 During the colloquy, Buckley told the court that, although he was "rational now," he suffered from a "manic depressive psychosis," which periodically caused episodes of erratic behavior and mood swings. Buckley also told the court he thought the government's prosecution of him was unconstitutional, for some of the evidence presented to the grand jury had been suppressed (in a separate state proceeding) by a Maine court as being the product of an illegal search.
The court accepted Buckley's guilty plea. As both the substance and flavor of this colloquy are of legal significance, we summarize and reproduce portions of the exchange:
1. The court asked Buckley to explain in some detail why he was pleading guilty. Buckley responded as follows:
Your Honor, I have several reasons for pleading guilty to this indictment. I have some experience with the questions before the Court and I understand that I could plead guilty. I could plead innocent or I could plead innocent by reason of insanity, I suppose. I think at the time the action was committed I was in a state of mind that I don't recognize the state of mind which I recognize as a rational state of mind [sic]. I think people should be responsible for their irrational behavior when they are rational and I feel that I am rational now. In 1979 [the time of the alleged offense] I think evidence that the prosecutor has in his hands, and other evidence, probably will be able to permit the court in understanding that my mental status was not as clear as it is today. I am not using that as a defense for the following reason. I have practiced forensic psychiatry before Federal Courts and Judicial Courts in the State of Florida and have on more than 150 occasions rendered opinions of this type to other officers of the Court, and I feel that the mentally ill can be mental patients that come before Courts and end up with indeterminate sentences as a result of pleading insanity [and] are not that much better off than if they stood up and just pled guilty. I could plead innocent, but innocent of what would be a question in my own mind. I don't think I am completely innocent and I don't think I am completely crazy, and I don't think a plea of innocent would serve the circumstances of justice today because of the conditions of the plea agreement which include some compromises by Mr. Browder which I appreciate. In particular, the opportunity for my brother, who is now a first-year law student, not to be indicted.
....
[B]y pleading guilty it's an intelligent and voluntary way and the damage done to myself and my family is less significant in terms of what has already become in my mind a difficult situation to understand and a confusing one to appreciate from both a psychological and a judicial position.
2. In response to the court's inquiry into Buckley's understanding of the benefit he would derive from pleading guilty, Buckley said,
Your Honor, Mr. Browder is about 10 feet behind me and he has just five minutes to recall the Grand Jury and indict my brother and so if I step backwards from my position, I have no doubt that Mr. Browder's breath will be breathing down my neck with an indictment that I don't want to see.
The other advantages are that Mr. Browder in his infinite kindness has dropped one count which will keep me out of prison for five more years and that's not an insignificant situation to look at, and also I have an interest in my own family, my son--my three year old son--who would like to see more of me, and if I fight this, not only would it be an ordeal financially, but it would potentially expose me to another manic depressive episode for which I recognize I don't have the psychological stamina to continue to prevent if I get enraged by a situation. Your Honor, there's no ifs, ands, or buts about it, I am an angry man, so rather than being that angry, I would rather just be guilty.
3. The court confirmed that Buckley had conferred with Keefe about his decision to plead guilty, and that Keefe agreed that the plea was in Buckley's interests and was made knowingly and voluntarily.
4. In response to the court's questions, Buckley said that he understood the elements of the offenses with which he was charged, and that he had discussed the charges with Keefe. Buckley told the court that he understood the court's explanation of the penalties for these offenses. Buckley also told the court he was satisfied with his attorney's advice and representation with respect to the explanation of these offenses.
5. The court asked Buckley in successive questions whether he understood the following rights of a criminal defendant, rights he would waive by pleading guilty: a) the right to continue to plead not guilty, b) the right to a jury trial on the offense charged in Count I of the indictment, c) the assistance of counsel at such a trial, d) the right to court-appointed counsel if he were indigent, e) the right to cross-examine the government's witnesses, f) the right to present his own evidence, g) the right not to testify himself, and h) the right to appeal from a conviction. Buckley replied in the affirmative to each of the court's questions, and indicated that he understood that he waived these rights if he pleaded guilty.
6. In this same series of questions, the court asked Buckley whether he understood that if a trial took place he would be presumed to be innocent. Buckley replied,
A. I have a hard time understanding that, your Honor.
Q. [The Court:] Well, I think that's very frank of you to say that. There's a good many people who have difficulty with that, but let me explain to you what I mean. Do you understand that for purposes of that trial so far as the law was concerned, that the jury would be instructed that you were to be presumed to be innocent until, in the course of their final deliberations on the case, the jury was satisfied that the evidence produced by the government proved beyond a reasonable doubt that you were in fact guilty of the offense charged by Count I of this indictment?
A. Yes, sir, I understand that.
Q. And do you...
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