U.S. v. Langham
| Decision Date | 29 November 1993 |
| Citation | 991 F.2d 806 |
| Parties | NOTICE: Although citation of unpublished opinions remains unfavored, unpublished opinions may now be cited if the opinion has persuasive value on a material issue, and a copy is attached to the citing document or, if cited in oral argument, copies are furnished to the Court and all parties. See General Order of |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
Before McKAY, Chief Judge, ANDERSON, Circuit Judge, and MECHEM, * District Judge.
The court granted appellant's motion to submit this case on the briefs; therefore, this cause was submitted without oral argument. See Fed.R.App.P. 34(a); 10th Cir.R. 34.1.9.
Defendant-appellant Charles Samuel Langham pled guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of cocaine base (crack), a violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A)(iii) and 846, and was sentenced to life in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. He challenges both the court's denial of his motion to withdraw his guilty plea and his sentence, contending that: (1) "The trial court erred in failing to fully comply with [Fed.R.Crim.P.] 11 and advise Mr. Langham of the nature of the charge and the consequences of a plea to conspiracy, and as such, [his] plea was not knowing and voluntary," Appellant's Opening Brief at 8; (2) "The trial court erred in denying Mr. Langham's motion to withdraw his plea prior to sentencing," id. at 11; and (3) "The trial court erred in sentencing Mr. Langham to a mandatory life sentence pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A)[;] alternatively, the trial court erred in failing to make specific findings prior to sentencing Mr. Langham," id. at 15, 16, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 3553(c). We affirm.
On September 6, 1990, Langham was charged in a multi-defendant indictment. The indictment was not complex. It recited that Langham was part of a conspiracy in which he had been supplied cocaine base (crack) by a codefendant, Carlton Keith Jackson, and that Langham and an unindicted coconspirator had travelled from Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Los Angeles, California, in order to obtain cocaine to be resold in Tulsa. The indictment further alleged that Langham had possessed a quantity of cocaine base with the intention to distribute it, and also had possessed $80,000 that he and other coconspirators intended to use to purchase cocaine. The indictment also alleged that as part of the same conspiracy Langham had travelled to Houston, Texas, in order to pick up cocaine for conversion into cocaine base to be sold in Tulsa. R.Vol. I, Tab 1.
Langham pled not guilty to the charges in the indictment and proceeded to trial with codefendant Carlton Keith Jackson on May 1, 1991. The next day, Langham decided to change his plea of not guilty to a plea of guilty. His guilty plea was not the subject of any plea bargain or agreement. After a hearing the district court accepted Langham's plea of guilty, and referred the matter to a probation officer for a presentence report. R.Supp.Vol. I, at 18.
On May 23, 1991, 21 days after Langham had changed his plea from not guilty to guilty, Langham filed a Motion to Withdraw Plea of Guilty and a brief in support thereof. R.Vol. I, Tab 59. The district court denied this motion in a written order. Id. at Tab 63. Shortly thereafter, a presentence report was submitted to the court. Langham objected to portions of the presentence report in a document filed on July 12, 1991. Id. at Tab 64. The court held a sentencing hearing on July 25, 1991, at which it overruled Langham's objections to the presentence report and then sentenced Langham to life imprisonment, plus five years supervised release, along with a $50 special assessment. R.Supp.Vol. II, at 14.
Langham contends that the district court erred in failing to comply with its "affirmative duty [under Fed.R.Crim.P. 11] to inform [him] of [the] conspiracy charge," Appellant's Opening Brief at 9, and that the court was required to make him "aware both that he [would] be held responsible for the acts of his coconspirators and that the entire quantity of drugs distributed by other members of the conspiracy may be used to calculate his sentence under U.S.S.G. § 1B1.3." Id. at 10. He further contends that he did not know that cocaine base, as opposed to cocaine powder, was the substance he was charged with conspiring to distribute.
Acceptance of a guilty plea by the district court without full compliance with Rule 11 requires that the guilty plea be vacated. McCarthy v. United States, 394 U.S. 459, 472 (1969); United States v. Keiswetter, 866 F.2d 1301, 1302 (10th Cir.1989) (en banc). We review a district court's compliance with Fed.R.Crim.P. 11 de novo. United States v. Gomez-Cuevas, 917 F.2d 1521, 1524 (10th Cir.1990); United States v. Rhodes, 913 F.2d 839, 843 (10th Cir.1990), cert. denied, 111 S.Ct. 1079 (1991). In order to be valid, a defendant's guilty plea must be knowing and voluntary, and be the product of a deliberate, intelligent choice. Parke v. Raley, 113 S.Ct. 517 (1992); McCarthy, 394 U.S. at 466; Rhodes, 913 F.2d at 843. Rule 11 imposes a duty on the trial court to address the defendant on the record and determine that he understands "the nature of the charge to which the plea is offered." Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(c)(1); United States v. Elias, 937 F.2d 1514, 1517-18 (10th Cir.1991). A defendant must have a full understanding of the consequences of the plea. United States v. Williams, 919 F.2d 1451, 1456 (10th Cir.1990) (), cert. denied, 111 S.Ct. 1604 (1991). Reading the indictment may be sufficient, but if the charge is complex, additional explanation may be required. United States v. Dayton, 604 F.2d 931, 936-38 (5th Cir.1979) (en banc), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 904 (1980), cited with approval in Gomez-Cuevas, 917 F.2d at 1525; see Elias, 937 F.2d at 1518 ().
To determine a defendant's level of understanding, the court may consider the complexity of both the charge and the factual underpinnings of the indictment, and the characteristics of the defendant that could hinder or advance his comprehension of the guilty plea and its consequences. United States v. Allard, 926 F.2d 1237, 1245 (1st Cir.1991); Gomez-Cuevas, 917 F.2d at 1525; United States v. Darling, 766 F.2d 1095, 1098 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1024 (1985). We look to the totality of the circumstances to determine whether the requirements of Rule 11 were satisfied under the unique circumstances of each case. United States v. Cusenza, 749 F.2d 473, 476 (7th Cir.1984); United States v. Coronado, 554 F.2d 166, 173 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 870 (1977); see Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(h), Advisory Committee Notes for 1983 Amendments (satisfaction of Rule 11 requirements need not be ritualistic).
Essentially, Langham contends that conspiracy is a difficult crime to understand, requiring detailed explanation. He asserts that he did not understand the conspiracy charge because the court did not explain conspiracy to him. He relies heavily on two cases, United States v. Darling, 766 F.2d 1095 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1024 (1985), and United States v. Van Buren, 804 F.2d 888 (6th Cir.1988). In Darling, the court concluded that a defendant who had pled guilty to conspiracy to defraud the IRS did not adequately understand the conspiracy charge when the judge did not mention the word "conspiracy" and made no effort to explain the law of conspiracy either generally or with reference to defendant's case. Darling, 766 F.2d at 1098-99. The court further concluded that the judge erred in relying totally on defendant's representations that he had discussed the charges with his attorney and understood them, and held that "Rule 11(c)(1) is not satisfied by affirmative answers to the court's inquiries whether the defendant has discussed the charges with his attorney and whether the defendant has understood the charges." Id. Similarly, in Van Buren, the court noted that reading the indictment was insufficient to inform defendant of the "complex charge" of utilizing a communication facility to further a conspiracy or in the commission of a conspiracy. Van Buren, 804 F.2d at 892.
However, Mr. Langham ignores precedent more factually in point than Darling or Van Buren. The court in United States v. Edgecomb, 910 F.2d 1309 (6th Cir.1990), noted that a conspiracy charge under section 846, in contrast to the conspiracy charge in Van Buren, was simple enough for a "lay person" to understand, and that the court's recitation of the indictment, its inquiry as to whether the defendants understood the charge, and the government's reading of the facts constituting the conspiracy was sufficient to comply with Rule 11(c)(1). Edgecomb, 910 F.2d at 1313; see United States v. Abdullah, 947 F.2d 306 (8th Cir.1991) (), cert. denied, 112 S.Ct. 1969 (1992); United States v. Musa, 946 F.2d 1297, 1305 (7th Cir.1991) (...
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