Guthrie v. U.S.

• Decision Date: 13 May 1975
• Docket Number: No. 74-2374,74-2374
• Citation: 517 F.2d 416
• Parties: John D. GUTHRIE, # 35010, Petitioner-Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Respondent-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Page 416

517 F.2d 416

John D. GUTHRIE, # 35010, Petitioner-Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Respondent-Appellee.

No. 74-2374.

United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit.

May 13, 1975.

William F. Almon, Yakima, Wash., for petitioner-appellant.

Dean C. Smith, U. S. Atty., and Robert S. Linnell, Asst. U. S. Atty., Spokane, Wash., for respondent-appellee.

OPINION

Before CARTER, WRIGHT and WALLACE, Circuit Judges.

EUGENE A. WRIGHT, Circuit Judge:

This is an appeal from the denial of a motion to vacate, set aside, or correct sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. We affirm.

Petitioner was indicted on multiple counts of mail fraud and conspiracy (18 U.S.C. §§ 371 and 1341), involved in an oil company credit card scheme. Upon the advice of appointed counsel, he pleaded guilty to two counts of the indictment in return for the dismissal of the remaining charges.

After eight months of incarceration, he moved to vacate sentence alleging, inter alia, that his guilty plea was involuntary because he had been misled by counsel as to the nature of the dismissed counts and was not adequately informed as to those to which he pleaded. An evidentiary hearing on the motion was conducted by another district judge to inquire into the merits of the constitutional claim. In that proceeding Guthrie put at issue several contentions which collaterally combine to present the sole question to be addressed on appeal: did the arraigning and sentencing judge comply with Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11?

The circumstances surrounding the appellant's guilty plea are simple. In concert with others, he applied to several oil companies for credit cards. His applications under an assumed name contained false information and promises causing the firms to be hoodwinked as to his true identity, financial status, and ability to repay. After the cards were issued, Guthrie and his co-conspirators made extensive use of the fraudulently obtained cards, rolling up charges totalling more than $30,000. A secret indictment was returned against the conspirators in March of 1973. Thereafter, Guthrie held a lengthy session with his counsel, scrutinizing the charges presented in the indictment. After weighing the evidence against him and with the advice of counsel, Guthrie pleaded guilty to conspiring in this unlawful charade (18 U.S.C. § 371), and to committing acts constituting mail fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1341). Guthrie now asserts he lacked the intent to defraud anyone, an essential element of the charges to which he pleaded.

Under Fed.R.Crim.P. 11, before a district court can accept a guilty plea it must determine that the plea is being given voluntarily, with an understanding of the nature of the charge and the consequences of the plea. The judge must also be satisfied that there is a factual basis for the plea. While Rule 11 does not require that the district court observe any particular ritual, the Rule does require that the judge employ some procedure sufficient to satisfy the constitutional mandate that a defendant's plea be truly voluntary. United States v. Youpee, 419 F.2d 1340, 1344 (9th Cir. 1969); Munich v. United States, 337 F.2d 356, 359 (9th Cir. 1964).

The Rule is also intended to produce a complete record at the time the plea is entered of the factors relevant to this determination of voluntariness in order to suppress frivolous attacks on the constitutional validity of the guilty plea. McCarthy v. United States, 394 U.S. 459, 465, 89 S.Ct. 1166, 22 L.Ed.2d 418.

When Guthrie entered his guilty plea the court asked if he had talked with his attorney about the charges and if he was satisfied with the appointed counsel. He replied in the affirmative. He was asked if he was being coerced in any way and he replied in the negative. He was then routinely apprised of the fact that by pleading guilty he waived his constitutional right to a jury trial and the penumbral rights thereof. The court then asked him:

"Are you representing to me that you are entering pleas of guilty to counts 1 and 18 because you in fact did the acts charged by the government?"

His reply to the inquiry was, "Yes sir." Thereafter, the judge explained the possible penalties under the charges and stated:

"Well, I find that Mr. Guthrie's pleas to counts 1 and 18 are knowledgeably and voluntarily entered, and he has entered the pleas by reason of the fact that he has admitted to the facts which make up the essential elements of the crimes."

Having previously been given probation on grand larceny and robbery charges, Guthrie was no stranger to the criminal process at the time he entered his guilty plea. Neither count to which he pleaded was so abstruse as to require regurgitation of the indictment. The evidence against Guthrie was weighty and, although the judge could have made a more expansive record, we cannot now say that Rule 11 was violated. We do not believe the rule was ever intended to require needless colloquy and time consuming padding of the record. Rather, as long as the judge has satisfactorily demonstrated in the record the voluntariness of an accused's plea, and there appears a basis in fact to support the plea, the judge has followed the intent of the rule.

Following the decision in United States v. McCarthy, supra, this court had an opportunity to apply its principles in United States v. Youpee, 419 F.2d 1340 (9th Cir. 1969). We were there dealing with a motion by a 17-year old Indian to withdraw a plea of guilty to a charge of assault on another Indian. The dialogue between the trial court and the defendant is set forth in the margin of that opinion. Id. at 1344 n.3.

"Questions need not be framed in the exact language of the rule so long as the judge uses rational means to determine the defendant's understanding of the charges against him and the...