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Defendant Cannot Withdraw Plea "Provisionally" Accepted by District Court

By Jonathan Byrne

US v. Battle: Battle was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and decided to plead guilty. At his guilty plea hearing, the district court "provisionally accepted" Battle's guilty plea "pending receipt" of the PSR. The district court deferred "final acceptance" of the plea agreement and "final adjudication of guilt" until the parties reviewed the PSR. Battle moved to withdraw his plea after reviewing the PSR based on the high sentence recommended therein. The district court denied the motion under Rule 11's "fair and just reason" standard and imposed the Guideline minimum and statutory maximum sentence of 120 months.On appeal, Battle argued that the district court applied the wrong standard to his plea withdrawal motion because the plea had not actually been accepted at the time he made the motion...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Circuit Blog on September 06, 2007 (boomark / email).