United States v. Robert E. Hyde (520 U.S. 670)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided May 27, 1997 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 520 U.S. 670 · 117 S. Ct. 1630
- Decided
- May 27, 1997
- Term
- October Term 1996
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Rehnquist
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Reversed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Chief Justice Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court. Rule 32(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure states that a district court may allow a defendant to withdraw his guilty plea before he is sentenced “if the defendant shows any fair and just reason.” After the defendant in this case pleaded guilty, pursuant to a plea agreement, the District Court accepted his plea but deferred decision on whether to accept the plea agreement. The defendant then sought to withdraw his plea. We hold that in such circumstances a defendant may not withdraw his plea unless he shows a “fair and just reason” under Rule 32(e). A federal grand jury indicted respondent Robert Hyde on eight counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, and other fraud-related crimes. On the morning of his trial, respondent indicated his desire to enter plea negotiations with the Government. Those negotiations produced a plea agreement in which respondent agreed to plead guilty to four of the counts. In exchange, the Government agreed to move to dismiss the remaining four counts and not to bring further charges against respondent for other allegedly fraudulent conduct. That afternoon, the parties appeared again before the District Court and submitted the plea agreement to the court, along with respondent’s “application for permission to enter [a] plea of guilty.” After placing respondent under oath, the court…
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