George Richard Heiden, Jr. v. United States

Appellant having pleaded guilty and waived counsel, was convicted of the crime of bank robbery and sentenced to a term of 20 years’ imprisonment by the District Court for the District of Arizona, Under Title 28 U.S.C. § 2255 , he seeks to set aside his sentence, contending that he had not intelligently pleaded or waived counsel. Among his many contentions in this respect is his assertion that he was misinformed as to the consequences of his plea and believed that the maximum sentence would be for ten years.

Rule 11, F.R.Cr.P., provides in part:

At no time, either on arraignment or subsequently, did the District Court, pursuant to this Rule, determine that the plea was made with an understanding of the nature of the charge. At no time did the court inquire into the degree to which waiver of counsel was intelligently made.

Hearing on appellant’s petition in the present proceedings was granted by the court below. At this hearing an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and an Assistant United States Attorney each testified that he had disclosed to appellant that the crime charged carried a 20-year sentence. The appellant himself was interrogated at length. He adhered to his…

(dissenting): .

Heiden was deprived of no constitutional right here. Nothing shocking happened. Heiden was not hurt. We deal here only with the supervisory power of this court.

The inadvertence that happened could prejudice another. Therefore, Rule 11 should be carefully observed, but when no damage was done, I cannot find the error either substantial or prejudicial. Thus, I dissent.

353 F.2d 53 George Richard HEIDEN, Jr., Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee. No. 19536. United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit. November 2, 1965. George Richard Heiden, Jr., in pro. per. Jo. Ann D. Diamos, U. S. Atty., Henry L. Zalut, Asst. U. S. Atty., Phoenix, Ariz., for appellee. Before CHAMBERS, BARNES HAMLEY, JERTBERG, MERRILL, KOELSCH, BROWNING, DUNIWAY and ELY, Circuit Judges. MERRILL, Circuit Judge: 1 Appellant having pleaded guilty and waived counsel, was convicted of the crime of bank robbery and sentenced to a term of 20 years' imprisonment by the District Court for the District of Arizona. Under Title 28 U.S.C. § 2255 , he seeks to set aside his sentence, contending that he had not intelligently pleaded or waived counsel. Among his many contentions in this respect is his assertion that he was misinformed as to the consequences of his plea and believed that the maximum sentence would be for ten years. Rule 11, F.R.Cr.P., provides in part: 2 "The court may refuse to accept a plea of guilty, and shall not accept the plea without first determining that the plea is made voluntarily with understanding of the nature of the charge." 3 At no time, either…