U.S. v. Brooks
| Decision Date | 21 June 1976 |
| Docket Number | No. 75-1332,75-1332 |
| Citation | 536 F.2d 1137 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Bobby Lee BROOKS, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
Bill W. Petty, Knoxville, Tenn. (Court appointed), for defendant-appellant.
John L. Bowers, U. S. Atty., W. Thomas Dillard, Knoxville, Tenn., for plaintiff-appellee.
Before EDWARDS and McCREE, Circuit Judges, and McALLISTER, Senior Circuit Judge.
Appellant Brooks was convicted after jury trial on a charge of theft of a check from the mails and unlawful possession of it, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1708 (1970). At the trial government evidence included the following: Mae F. Henry testified she was the addressee of a check from the Tennessee State Welfare Department which never arrived. The letter carrier concerned testified that on November 7, 1973, he delivered the check to the address on the envelope and that he heard a woman (unidentified) say: ; whereupon the mail carrier noted down the number of the taxicab, checked the mail box and found that the letter he had delivered was gone. The taxicab driver testified that he picked up appellant and one Flynn in the general vicinity where the check had been stolen and drove them to a bank where he saw Flynn cash a check. The Postal Inspector in charge of this case testified that he received a telephone call from appellant in which appellant offered to plead guilty (although appellant preceded this with a protestation of innocence) if he were given a maximum of two years. A fingerprint expert also testified for the government that he thought a latent fingerprint on the check belonged to appellant.
The evidence summarized above was clearly sufficient to support the jury's finding of guilty, and we find no error in the District Judge's rulings thereon, except as to the testimony of the postal inspector. Offers to plead guilty are now generally considered a part of plea negotiations and are ordinarily inadmissible. 1 New federal rules spell this out in definitive language:
Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, evidence of a plea of guilty, later withdrawn, or a plea of nolo contendere, or of an offer to plead guilty or nolo contendere to the crime charged or any other crime, or of statements made in connection with, and relevant to, any of the foregoing pleas or offers, is not admissible in any civil or criminal proceeding against the person who made the plea or offer. However, evidence of a statement made in connection with, and relevant to, a plea of guilty, later withdrawn, a plea of nolo contendere, or an offer to plead guilty or nolo contendere to the crime charged or any other crime, is admissible in a criminal proceeding for perjury or false statement if the statement was made by the defendant under oath, on the record, and in the presence of counsel. Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(e)(6).
Clearly, of course, this rule was not in force at the time of this trial. But the rule merely represents culmination of a long existent trend which did antedate appellant's trial.
The A.B.A. Standards Relating to Pleas of Guilty contain the following standard relating to plea bargaining:
Discussion and agreement not admissible.
Unless the defendant subsequently enters a plea of guilty or nolo contendere which is not withdrawn, the fact that the defendant or his counsel and the prosecuting attorney engaged in plea discussions or made a plea agreement should not be received in evidence against or in favor of the defendant in any criminal or civil action or administrative proceedings.
A.B.A. Standards Relating to Pleas of Guilty § 3.4 (1968).
This was followed by Supreme Court endorsement of plea bargaining in Santobello v. New York, 404 U.S. 257, 92 S.Ct. 495, 30 L.Ed.2d 427 (1971):
The disposition of criminal charges by agreement between the prosecutor and the accused, sometimes loosely called "plea bargaining," is an essential component of the administration of justice. Properly administered, it is to be encouraged. If every criminal charge were subjected to a full-scale trial, the States and the Federal Government would need to multiply by many times the number of judges and court facilities.
Disposition of charges after plea discussions is not only an essential part of the process but a highly...
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People v. Conte
...that even an attempt to open plea bargaining with the government's attorney is covered by the rule of inadmissibility. United States v. Brooks, 536 F.2d 1137 (CA 6, 1976). However, as both the amendment and the commentary clearly indicate, an otherwise voluntary admission to a law enforceme......
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State v. Bennett
...States v. Ross, 493 F.2d 771, 775 (5th Cir.1974); See also, United States v. Smith, 525 F.2d 1017 (10th Cir.1975); United States v. Brooks, 536 F.2d 1137 (6th Cir.1976); United States v. Lawson, 683 F.2d 688 (2d Rule 11(e)(6) W.Va.R.Crim.P., recognizes the existence and practice of plea bar......
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U.S. v. Sebetich
...while he was in custody, indicating that he would plea guilty to armed robbery if the murder charges were dropped.); United States v. Brooks, 536 F.2d 1137 (6th Cir.1976) (court refusing to admit defendant's telephoned offer to a postal inspector to plead guilty in exchange for a two-year m......
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U.S. v. Robertson
...government, such express unilateral offers ought to be held inadmissible, if the context is consistent. See United States v. Brooks, 536 F.2d 1137, 1138 n. 1, 1139 (6th Cir. 1976) and cases cited. See also United States v. Verdoorn, 528 F.2d 103, 107 (8th Cir. 1976), Cited in, United States......
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§ 16.05 Plea Discussions
...are not entitled to [exclusion]").[17] See United States v. Herman, 544 F.2d 791, 795-99 (5th Cir. 1977); United States v. Brooks, 536 F.2d 1137, 1138-39 (6th Cir. 1976); United States v. Smith, 525 F.2d 1017, 1020-22 (10th Cir. 1975).[18] See United States v. Lewis, 117 F.3d 980, 984 (7th ......