United States v. Myers

Defendant pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and was sentenced to eighteen months' imprisonment. On appeal, defendant argued that the settlement conference he voluntarily participated in violated Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11 because the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Davila prohibits any judicial involvement in plea negotiation, even when the judicial participation is both requested by the defendant and sanctioned by the district court’s local rules. The court agreed with defendant's claim, concluding that Davila makes clear that Rule 11(c)(1) imposes a categorical bar on judicial participation in plea negotiations. However, because defendant failed to object at the time to judicial participation, the court reviewed his claim for plain error. In this case, defendant failed to establish that the alleged error affected his substantial rights because the record is bereft of evidence indicating that he suffered any prejudice due to the magistrate judge’s participation in the settlement conference. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "United States v. Myers" on Justia Law