United States v. Arbey Medina-Flores ( 2008 )

[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FILED
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
________________________ ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
JANUARY 10, 2008
THOMAS K. KAHN
No. 07-11583
CLERK
Non-Argument Calendar
________________________
D. C. Docket No. 06-00072-CR-FTM-29SPC
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
ARBEY MEDINA-FLORES,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
_________________________
(January 10, 2008)
Before HULL, MARCUS and WILSON, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Arbey Medina-Flores appeals his conviction and 151-month sentence for
possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C.
§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A)(viii). After review, we affirm.
I. BACKGROUND
Medina-Flores was arrested during an undercover operation by Drug
Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) agents. An undercover DEA agent met Jose Luis
Salazar-Flores, Medina-Flores’s cousin, at a Cracker Barrel restaurant to purchase
methamphetamine. Salazar-Flores escorted the DEA agent to a car driven by
Medina-Flores.
After Salazar-Flores and the DEA agent entered Medina-Flores’s car,
Salazar-Flores motioned to the DEA agent that the drugs were in the back. Both
Salazar-Flores and Medina-Flores then pointed to a child car seat. When the DEA
agent could not see the drugs, Medina-Flores told the DEA agent that the drugs
were behind the cushioning of the car seat. The DEA agent lifted the cushioning
and found several cylindrical objects wrapped in cellophane.
Using a razorblade provided by Salazar-Flores, the DEA agent opened one
of the packages and saw a brown, powdery substance. Subsequent tests revealed
the substance was methamphetamine.
Medina-Flores attempted to enter a guilty plea. At the plea hearing, the
government recited its version of the facts as outlined above. However, Medina-
Flores indicated that he did not know when he accompanied his cousin Salazar-
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Flores to the Cracker Barrel restaurant that there were drugs hidden in his car and
that he only realized the drugs were present when his cousin pointed them out to
the DEA agent. Medina-Flores also said that had he known that Salazar-Flores
was involved in a drug transaction, he would not have agreed to go with Salazar-
Flores to the restaurant.
Although Medina-Flores’s counsel argued that there was a sufficient basis
for the guilty plea, a magistrate judge concluded otherwise in a report and
recommendation (“R&R”). The district court adopted the R&R, and the case
proceeded to trial.
At trial, Medina-Flores called his cousin Salazar-Flores, who testified that
Medina-Flores did not know that drugs were in the car. Medina-Flores’s defense
was that he could not possess the drugs since he did not know that the drugs were
in his car. The jury convicted Medina-Flores.
The presentence investigation report (“PSI”) concluded that Medina-Flores
was not entitled to an acceptance of responsibility reduction. With a total offense
level of 34 and a criminal history category of I, the PSI recommended an advisory
guidelines range of 151 to 188 months’ imprisonment. Medina-Flores objected to
the PSI, arguing, inter alia, that he should receive an acceptance of responsibility
reduction because he admitted his involvement in the offense when he attempted to
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plead guilty.
At sentencing, the district court overruled Medina-Flores’s objection to the
denial of an acceptance of responsibility reduction. The district court noted that
Medina-Flores’s statement at his plea hearing was that he learned of the existence
of the drugs only seconds before his arrest, which did not come “anywhere close to
admitting guilt, or attempting to admit guilt.” The district court adopted the
guidelines calculations in the PSI and imposed a 151-month sentence. Medina-
Flores filed this appeal.
II. DISCUSSION
A. Rejection of Guilty Plea
On appeal, Medina-Flores argues that the district court abused its discretion
in rejecting his guilty plea.1
A defendant does not possess an absolute right to have his guilty plea
accepted. Santobello v. New York, 404 U.S. 257, 262, 92 S. Ct. 495, 498 (1971).
Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(b)(3) states that: “Before entering judgment
on a guilty plea, the court must determine that there is a factual basis for the plea.”
Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(b)(3); see also United States v. Gamboa, 166 F.3d 1327, 1331
n.4 (11th Cir. 1999) (stating that “[a] court cannot accept a guilty plea unless it is
1
We review a district court’s rejection of a guilty plea for an abuse of discretion. United
States v. Gamboa, 166 F.3d 1327, 1330 n.2 (11th Cir. 1999).
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satisfied that the conduct to which the defendant admits constitutes the offense
charged”). “In determining whether there was a sufficient factual basis for a guilty
plea, [we] must consider whether the district judge was subjectively satisfied with
the basis for the plea.” United States v. Houser, 70 F.3d 87, 89-90 (11th Cir.
1995).
Furthermore, “[i]t is far better for a court to err on the side of rejecting a
valid guilty plea than to violate a defendant’s constitutional rights by entering
judgment on a defective plea.” United States v. Gomez-Gomez, 822 F.2d 1008,
1011 (11th Cir. 1987). While a district court may accept an Alford plea 2 – a guilty
plea accompanied by assertions of fact that would negate guilt – the court is not
required to accept such a plea and may instead treat the defendant’s statements as a
claim of innocence. Id. (“[W]hen a defendant casts doubts upon the validity of his
guilty plea by protesting his innocence or by making exculpatory statements, the
court may resolve such doubts against the plea.”).
At his plea hearing, Medina-Flores maintained that: (1) he was unaware of
the existence of the drugs as he drove to the Cracker Barrel restaurant and only
2
North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 37, 91 S. Ct. 160, 167 (1970) (concluding that a
district court does not err by accepting a guilty plea that is accompanied by the defendant’s
assertion of innocence when the defendant concludes that a guilty plea is in his best interest and
there is strong evidence of guilt).
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learned of their existence when Salazar-Flores pointed them out to the DEA agent;
(2) he would not have agreed to accompany Salazar-Flores to the restaurant had he
known Salazar-Flores was involved in a drug deal; and (3) he was pleading guilty
because the drugs were in his car, even though he was unaware of them.
Given Medina-Flores’s statements, the district court was not satisfied that
the conduct to which Medina-Flores admitted constituted the charged offense.
Even if the district court could have accepted Medina-Flores’s guilty plea as an
Alford plea, the district court was not required to accept the plea and was within its
discretion to interpret Medina-Flores’s statements as a claim of innocence. We
cannot say the district court abused its discretion in refusing to accept Medina-
Flores’s guilty plea.
B. Acceptance of Responsibility Reduction
Medina-Flores also argues that the district court clearly erred in denying him
a two-level acceptance of responsibility reduction based on his statements during
his plea hearing that he pointed out the methamphetamine to an undercover agent
during a drug transaction.
A defendant is entitled to a two-level reduction if he “clearly demonstrates
acceptance of responsibility for his offense.” U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1(a). The
commentary to § 3E1.1 indicates that in the “rare situation[]” that a defendant
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proceeds to trial “to assert and preserve issues that do not relate to factual guilt,”
the defendant may be entitled to an acceptance of responsibility reduction if his
“pre-trial statements and conduct” demonstrate that he has accepted responsibility.
U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1 cmt. n.2. However, that commentary also provides that a
defendant who denies the “essential factual elements of guilt” at trial is not entitled
to an acceptance of responsibility reduction. Id.3
Here, Medina-Flores maintained throughout the proceedings in the district
court that he did not know there were drugs in his car until his cousin Salazar-
Flores showed them to the DEA agent. Consequently, Medina-Flores argued at
trial that his possession of the drugs was not “knowing” – that is, he attempted to
negate the essential factual element of intent. Thus, Medina-Flores was not
eligible for a § 3E1.1 acceptance of responsibility reduction.
AFFIRMED.
3
The relevant commentary to § 3E1.1 states:
This adjustment is not intended to apply to a defendant who puts the government to
its burden of proof at trial by denying the essential factual elements of guilt, is
convicted, and only then admits guilt and expresses remorse. Conviction by trial,
however, does not automatically preclude a defendant from consideration for [the
acceptance of responsibility] reduction. In rare situations a defendant may clearly
demonstrate an acceptance of responsibility for his criminal conduct even though he
exercises his constitutional right to a trial. This may occur . . . where a defendant
goes to trial to assert and preserve issues that do not relate to factual guilt . . . . In
each such instance, however, a determination that a defendant has accepted
responsibility will be based primarily upon pre-trial statements and conduct.
U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1 cmt. n.2 (emphasis added).
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