Tag Archives: breach of plea agreement

Lying Down with Dogs – Update for December 7, 2017

We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

LISAStatHeader2small
DEFENDANT SANDBAGGED BY AUSA PLEA DEAL BREACH GETS NEW SENTENCING

Like 94 out of 100 defendants, Kamal King-Gore made a deal with the government after his arrest on drug charges. One of the terms of the plea agreement, a fairly common provision, stipulated that nothing Kamal told the government in his proffer would be used against him.

fleas171207At sentencing, however, the AUSA breached the agreement by telling the court what Kamal had said at the debriefing, specifically evidence Kamal had given the government that portrayed him in fairly bad light. While the government recommended a 188-month sentence like it was supposed to do, it did so while reporting to the judge that  Kamal was a wholesale drug seller and explaining in detail the quantities Kamal had moved.

Kamal should know that if you lie down with dogs, you’re going to probably get up with fleas. Speaking of dogs, the judge – who had no idea she was being treated to information  Kamal had told the government only because it promised not to use them against him – heard the government’s dog whistle loud and clear. She obligingly branded Kamal a wholesaler (a term first used by the government) with a serious record. Nevertheless, the court sentenced Kamal to 162 months, less than the time the government agreed to recommend.

Some people are never satisfied, and you can drop Kamal into that camp. He appealed, arguing that while the government kept its word on the amount of time it recommended, it talked out of school about things it learned in the proffer, such as that Kamal had cooked up a quarter kilo of cocaine into crack. 

ausalies171207On appeal, the government admitted it broke its word, but argued that its breach did not hurt Kamal because there was plenty in the record that would have set off the judge anyway, and anyhow, he got less than his Guidelines range. Even without its pulling a data dump on Kamal at sentencing, the government said, the district judge would have hammered him.

Last week, the D.C. Circuit disagreed, reversing the sentence. The AUSA argued the “record shows ample independent evidence for the district court to conclude” Kamal “deserved a higher sentence.” This is so, the D.C. Circuit said, but the “question isn’t whether defendant’s prison term would have been drastically shorter—just whether it was reasonably likely that the prison term would not have been as long had the district court considered only permissible factors.”

dogcouch171207Here, the sentencing judge picked up the term “wholesale seller” only after the government used it in its sentencing arguments. And the government supported its use of the “wholesaler” term by referring to a sale that appeared nowhere in the record. That was enough to convince the Court of Appeals that Kamal was entitled to resentencing in front of a different judge who had not heard about what Kamal said at his proffer.

United States v. King-Gore, Case No. 13-3010 (D.C. Cir. Nov. 28, 2017)

– Thomas L. Root

LISAStatHeader2small

Some Legal Kibbles – Update for March 20, 2017

We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

kibbles170320Today, we offer a few kibbles of legal interest that have been cluttering our dog pound for the last few days…

LISAStatHeader2small
US ATTORNEYS TO FOCUS ON VIOLENT CRIME, WHICH INCLUDES DRUG TRAFFICKING

There is some indication that the Trump Administration may be expanding violent crime enforcement activities, a category which Attorney General Jeffrey Sessions believes must include gun and drug offenses. In keeping with the President’s fixation on violent crime, Sessions last week ordered United States Attorneys to work with with local and state prosecutors “to investigate, prosecute and deter the most violent offenders.”

Sessions’ directive said, “federal prosecutors should coordinate with state and local counterparts to identify the venue (federal or state) that best ensures an immediate and appropriate penalty for these violent offenders.”

Attorney General Jeffrey Sessions
Attorney General Jeffrey Sessions

In keeping with the new emphasis on violent crime, Sessions has appointed Steve Cook, chief of the Criminal Division for the U. S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee, and one of last year’s most vocal opponents of sentencing reform, as associate deputy attorney general with a mandate to focus on violent crime. Cook told a newspaper last year, “When you put criminals in jail, crime goes down. That’s what incapacitation is designed to do, and it works.” He called the idea that most offenders in federal prisons are nonviolent drug pushers is a myth.

violent160620Some critics the emphasis on violent crime as federal encroachment. “An expanded federal criminal justice agenda comprised of federal-state-local task forces targeting violent offenses and coupled with tougher federal sentences would be a substantial change in practice and a step in the wrong direction,” says Ryan King, senior fellow at the Urban Institute Justice Policy Center.

Tougher sentences could quickly reverse declines in BOP inmate population, especially in higher-level joints. According to a new Prison Policy Initiative report, 50% of the 189,000 federal prison inmates were convicted of drug offenses. Violent-crime convictions account for just 7% of the federal total.

The Crime Report, At ‘critical moment’ under Trump, report gives hard facts on incarceration (Mar. 14, 2017)

The Trace, Meet the hardliner Jeff Sessions picked to carry out his violent crime crackdown (Mar. 15, 2017)
LISAStatHeader2small

WE’VE GOT YOUR NUMBER

The U.S. Sentencing Commission last week released its 21st annual Sourcebook of Federal Sentencing Statistics, covering fiscal year.

stats170320The current-year book is available online as an interactive book that defies downloading. It contains a wealth of sentencing stats broken down in over 100 tables (as well as sentencing date by federal district, another 97 tables).

Slogging through the Sourcebook takes awhile, but it yields a lot of fascinating data. Of special interest:

•   the number of cases ending with guilty pleas remained steady at 97%

•   offenses included 32% drug, 30% immigration, white-collar (including fraud) 13%, guns 11%, child porn 3%.

•   14% of people challenging their sentences on direct appeal won reversal, but only 5% ended up with a better sentence.

•  two out of three resentencings resulted from the 2-level reduction for drug offenses, Rule 35(b) reductions for helping the government were 11% of resentencings, and 10% were from wins on 2255 motions.

• continuing the pathetic performance on compassionate release, the courts granted a total of 51 inmates sentence reduction (a mere 0.4% of all resentencings).

•   in new sentencings last year, 49% were within the Guidelines range, a two-percent increase over last year. Only 2% of sentences were above the range, while 19% were below the range for reasons other than government motion. About 20% of sentences were reduced because the defendant helped the government, and another 9% were cut for early disposition of an immigration case.

U.S. Sentencing Commission, Sourcebook of Federal Sentencing Statistics 2016  (Mar. 12, 2017)
LISAStatHeader2small

PLEA BREACHES AND PLAIN ERROR

Like 97% of other federal defendants, Jim Kirkland made a deal with the government to plead guilty. In exchange, the government agreed to recommend the bottom of the guidelines range at sentencing.

But when Jim stood in front of the judge, the government went crazy on him, not just failing to recommend the bottom, but instead pushing for the very top, and bringing in live testimony of how terrible a few of his prior state crimes had been. The probation officer recommended the dead center of the sentencing range, and the judge gave it to him, saying that was what he had had in mind all along.

betray170320Jim’s sentencing lawyer must have been snoring too loudly to object, but on appeal, Jim raised the government’s plea breach. The AUSA admitted it was a plain breach, but argued the error did not affect Jim’s substantial rights or seriously affect “the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings,” two of the standard Jim had to meet before proving F.R.Crim.P. 52(b) “plain error.” The government’s rationale was that the district judge said he said the 300-month midpoint sentence “frankly, happens to coincide with my own independent decision,” and that was sufficient evidence that the court would have imposed the same exact sentence even if the AUSA had recommended the bottom of the guidelines.

Last week, the 5th Circuit agreed with Jim. Clearly unhappy at the government’s breach of its promise, the Court said “the government did not merely recommend a high-end sentence but also strongly argued and presented testimony in support of that recommendation, recounting in great detail the graphic and… explicit facts involved in Kirkland’s offense of conviction and a prior offense and emphasizing his criminal history and his violation of the conditions of his supervised release. The testimony and argument by the Government filled more than nine pages of the sentencing transcript. Therefore, the district court may have been influenced not only by the Government’s recommendation, but also by Government’s passionate emphasis of aggravating factors in support of that recommendation, which brought public safety concerns to the forefront.”

When the government breaches a plea agreement, a defendant may either ask the court to order specific performance of the plea agreement and resentencing before a different judge, or withdrawal of the guilty plea. Jim asked for and got resentencing before a new judge.

United States v. Kirkland, Case No. 16-40255 (Mar. 17, 2017)

– Thomas L. Root

LISAStatHeader2small

 

What’s in a Name? – Update for February 24, 2017

We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

LISAStatHeader2small
A SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL

Bruce Swisshelm signed a plea agreement to resolve his bank fraud indictment. It included the fairly Government promise not to argue for a sentence above the top of the Guideline range, and the defendant would not argue for a sentence below the bottom.

rose170224Bruce’s sentencing range was 57-71 months, but his attorney vigorously argued for a downward variance and bombarded the court with letters from the community attesting to the fact that Bruce was a great guy. The Government objected to her tactics, arguing that defense counsel’s arguments and the letters violated the plea agreement. Bruce’s lawyer disagreed, saying the agreement only prohibited her from arguing for a downward departure, and all she was asking for was a variance.

Variance, departure? A difference, is it not? Bruce’s attorney was undoubtedly emulating Renaissance lawyer Juliet, who once argued, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet.” And there is little doubt the judge found her arguments as sweet as a rose: despite the 57-71 month Guidelines range and the terms of the plea agreement, the court sentenced Bruce to 12 months and a day.

The Government appealed, arguing in essence, “Lord, what fools these mortals be” if they think they did not breach the plea agreement. Earlier this week, the 8th Circuit agreed.

Defense counsel just wanted the court to picture her client in the best possible light.
          Defense counsel just wanted the court to picture her client in the best possible light.

The Court of Appeals admitted that there are a lot of case out there holding  what’s to be done when the Government breaches a plea agreement, but that it had never decided the appropriate remedy when the defendant violates the deal. The Court said, “We do not now decide the proper remedy for any future defendant’s breach of a plea agreement, but in the particular circumstances of this case we decline to treat Swisshelm’s breach of the plea agreement differently from a breach by the government.”

A governmental breach of a plea deal always carries with it constitutional due process concerns. Those concerns are not present in where the breaching party is the defendant, but “principles of contract interpretation” nevertheless causes the Court to hold Bruce “accountable to the terms of the plea agreement. The parties agreed that they would not request a sentence outside the Guidelines range, and the government agreed not to pursue the several additional charges and Guidelines enhancements it could have lodged against Swisshelm in return for his guilty plea… Swisshelm thus received the benefit of the plea agreement—the government’s forbearance from seeking an above-Guidelines sentence—but deprived the government of its corresponding bargained-for benefit—Swisshelm’s forbearance from seeking a below-Guidelines sentence. “

Defense attorneys know that some clients just can't be prettied up at sentencing, no matter how hard one tries...
     Defense attorneys know that some clients just can’t be prettied up at sentencing, no matter how hard one tries…

The Court ordered resentencing in front of a different judge, which is precisely the remedy Bruce would have gotten if the Government had breached. Bruce – who had to think he had a real soft-touch sitting on the bench – complained that a different judge was hardly necessary and that his breach had been harmless. Doing the math, the 8th figured that a decrease in sentence from 57 months to 12 months was quote material. It said the different judge “may in the exercise of discretion consider the letters submitted on Swisshelm’s behalf for the purpose of determining a sentence within the Guidelines range, but not for the purpose of considering a downward departure or variance from the Guidelines range.”

The Court noted that appointment of a new judge in cases like this is standard, and was “in no sense to question the fairness of the sentencing judge; the fault here rests on the defendant, not on the sentencing judge.”

Bruce can’t be thinking that “All’s well that ends well.” He’s already served his 12-month sentence, and was just released last month. He’s now looking to going back for another 45 months, at least.

United States v. Swisshelm, Case No. 16-1416 (8th Circuit, February 22, 2017)

 – Thomas L. Root

LISAStatHeader2small