United States v. Roberto Ramirez-Ramirez

MEMORANDUM

Roberto Ramirez-Ramirez appeals his convictions and sentence for conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute and conspiracy to distribute at least five kilograms of cocaine (21 U.S.C. § § 846 & 841(b)(l)(A)(ii)), conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery ( 18 U.S.C. § 1951 ), possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime ( 18 U.S.C. § 924 (c)(1)(A)), and being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm ( 18 U.S.C. § 922 (g)(5)).

1. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(c)(1), on its face, applies to plea negotiations, not a defendant’s jury trial waiver. Whereas “judicial involvement in plea negotiations inevitably carries with it the high and unacceptable risk of coercing a defendant to accept the proposed agreement and plead guilty,” United States v. Bruce, 976 F.2d 552, 556 (9th Cir.1992), Ramirez-Ramirez contested his guilt in a bench trial. Moreover, a colloquy is required in other situations when a defendant waives a jury trial, see, e.g., United States v. Duarte-Higareda, 113 F.3d 1000, 1003 (9th Cir.1997), and this creates inherent tension between Rule ll(c)(l)’s proscription of judicial participation and a jury trial…