Summary
The Second Circuit affirmed Steve Boria's convictions after he argued that the district court inadequately investigated the effects of medications he had taken before pleading guilty. The court held that the district court satisfied Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11 by confirming that Boria was clearheaded and understood the proceedings, and that no further inquiry into medication side effects was required. The court also held that Boria failed to show a reasonable probability that he would not have pleaded guilty absent the alleged error.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the district court violated Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11 by failing to inquire adequately into the types, side effects, and impact of Boria's medications on his ability to understand and voluntarily enter his guilty plea.
- Whether any Rule 11 error constituted plain error requiring reversal absent a showing of a reasonable probability that Boria would not have pleaded guilty but for the alleged error.
Holdings
- The district court satisfied Rule 11 because, after learning that Boria had taken medication, it asked whether he was clearheaded and understood the proceedings, received affirmative answers, confirmed that counsel and the government had no competency objection, and observed no red flags indicating that the medications impaired his understanding.
- Boria did not establish plain error because he failed to show a reasonable probability that he would not have pleaded guilty but for the alleged Rule 11 error.
Key quotations
“We agree that a district court must ask questions about the side effects of a medication that are relevant to a defendant’s ability “to understand the nature and consequences of his decision to plead guilty.”” (8)
“A “defendant who seeks reversal of his conviction after a guilty plea, on the ground that the district court committed plain error under Rule 11, must show a reasonable probability that, but for the error, he would not have entered the plea.”” (10)
Factual background
Boria took Remeron and another medication for bipolar disorder the night before his guilty-plea hearing. During the colloquy, the magistrate judge asked when he had taken the medications, whether he was clearheaded, whether he understood what was happening, how he felt physically, and whether he was ready to plead; Boria answered affirmatively. Boria answered the court's questions cogently, and both counsel stated that they had no objection to his competency.
Procedural history
Boria was indicted in the Southern District of New York with eighteen codefendants and later pleaded guilty. The district court accepted the plea and sentenced him to a mandatory fifteen-year term. After counsel failed to file a timely notice of appeal, the district court found ineffective assistance, vacated and re-entered the judgment and sentence, and Boria timely appealed the amended judgment.