Background
In April two thousand twenty-one, law enforcement investigated a group in Nashville involved in gun and drug crimes. Joisade Wilford and her co-defendant Brandon Long were observed at homes used to store and distribute drugs. On July ninth, two thousand twenty-one, security footage showed Wilford holding a gun while patrolling a residence to protect drugs. A federal grand jury indicted her on multiple counts, including using and carrying a firearm during a drug trafficking crime. Wilford signed a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to one count under Section eighteen United States Code Section nine hundred twenty-four subsection C one A one in exchange for the dismissal of six other charges. She was sentenced to five years in prison, the mandatory minimum, and appealed.
The court’s reasoning
The court applied plain error review because the defendant did not challenge her plea below. Regarding the colloquy error, the court agreed the judge misstated an element by including possession alongside use and carry, but found no effect on substantial rights since the defendant could not show she would have rejected the plea otherwise and the error was in the written agreement she signed. The court noted the distinction between carrying and possessing was immaterial given the video evidence of her conduct. On the involuntary plea claim, the court held the defendant was bound by her statements at the hearing that the plea was voluntary. On the factual basis, the court found the low bar of Rule eleven was met by the written agreement and the defendant’s acknowledgment of its accuracy.
We agree. Wilford doesn’t demonstrate a reasonable probability that, but for this error, she would not have pleaded guilty.
United States v. Hobbs, 953 F.3d 853, 857 (2020)
What it means going forward
The decision reinforces that minor errors in plea colloquies that do not affect the defendant’s decision to plead guilty or the fairness of the proceedings will not result in reversal, and that defendants are bound by their sworn statements regarding the voluntariness of their pleas.
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