United States v. Babcock, 10th Cir. (2005)
United States v. Babcock, 10th Cir. (2005)
TENTH CIRCUIT
PATRICK FISHER
Clerk
No. 05-1002
(D. Ct. No. 03-CR-496-D)
(D. Colo.)
ADAM L. BABCOCK,
Defendant - Appellant.
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of
law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. This court generally disfavors the
citation of orders and judgments; nevertheless, an order and judgment may be cited under
the terms and conditions of 10th Cir. R. 36.3.
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I. BACKGROUND
Mr. Babcock and his co-defendant, Jason Greer, were charged with two
counts of assault and with aiding and abetting in both charges of assault. See 18
U.S.C. 2, 113(a)(1), and 113(a)(6). Mr. Babcock pleaded guilty to the
113(a)(6) assault. The plea agreement described how, at the time Mr. Babcock
and Mr. Greer were inmates at the U.S. Penitentiary in Florence, Colorado, they
approached a fellow prisoner, beat him, and stabbed him repeatedly with a
makeshift shank before correctional officers broke up the fight.
At the beginning of Mr. Babcocks sentencing hearing, he made two
motions through his counsel: first, a motion to withdraw his plea of guilty;
second, a motion for the withdrawal and replacement of his attorney. During the
hearing, however, Mr. Babcocks counsel expressed serious doubts about the
merits of both of his clients motions:
I must advise this court as an officer of the Court that I dont know
of any fair and just reason why the Court should allow the
withdrawal of the plea. And I believe its my duty as an officer of
the Court when my client asks that I request permission of the Court
to withdraw, that I make that request.
The court inquired about the legal basis for Mr. Babcocks request to withdraw
the plea and discussed the legal standard for withdrawal. In response to the
courts subsequent direct inquiry of Mr. Babcocks objective here with these
maneuvers at the eleventh hour, Mr. Babcock expressed his desire to file some
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motions that I feel will be to my benefit, which his counsel clarified as a desire
to move to dismiss the prosecution based on selective prosecution. The District
Court denied both the motion to withdraw the plea and the motion for counsel to
withdraw.
On appeal, Mr. Babcock argues that his desire to move to dismiss based on
a claim of selective prosecution is a fair and just reason for withdrawal, and that
the District Court failed to make sufficient inquiry into the basis for his request to
withdraw the plea.
II. DISCUSSION
Under Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(d)(2)(B), a defendant may withdraw a plea of
guilty prior to sentencing if he can demonstrate a fair and just reason for doing
so. This Court considers seven factors influential to its consideration of whether
a defendant has stated a fair and just reason:
(1) whether the defendant has asserted his innocence; (2) whether
withdrawal would prejudice the government; (3) whether the defendant
delayed in filing his motion, and if so, the reason for the delay; (4) whether
withdrawal would substantially inconvenience the court; (5) whether close
assistance of counsel was available to the defendant; (6) whether the plea
was knowing and voluntary; and (7) whether the withdrawal would waste
judicial resources.
United States v. Sandoval, 390 F.3d 1294, 1299 (10th Cir. 2004). We review the
District Courts decision for abuse of discretion. United States v. Jones, 168
F.33d 1217, 1219 (10th Cir. 1999).
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firsthand.
Next, Mr. Babcock offers no legal support for his contention that the
District Court should have conducted a more lengthy inquiry about the basis for
his motion to withdraw the plea, and he offers no facts that suggest a more
lengthy inquiry would have produced a different result.
Finally, Mr. Babcock does not explicitly raise any of the Sandoval factors
in support of his appeal. He briefly addresses the countervailing elements,
asserting that a withdrawal of plea would cause no prejudice to the government,
no substantial inconvenience to the court, and no waste of judicial resources, but
he bases his argument on the governments routine statement that it was ready and
able to proceed to trial. Moreover, the absence of prejudice carries no weight if
Mr. Babcock has not advanced a fair and just reason in favor of withdrawal. See
United States v. Rhodes, 913 F.2d 839, 845 (stating that defendant bears the
burden for demonstrating a fair and just reason for withdrawing his plea).
Therefore, we conclude that the District Court did not abuse its discretion in
denying Mr. Babcoks motion to withdraw his guilty plea.
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III. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, we AFFIRM.
ENTERED FOR THE COURT,
Deanell Reece Tacha
Chief Circuit Judge
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