Theodore George v. United States

Appellant Theodore George was indicted for first degree murder within Indian country in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1111 and 1151. In November 1977, George pleaded guilty to the lesser included offense of second degree murder for which he received a seventeen-year prison sentence. George did not object to the sentence when it was imposed by the district court nor did he take a direct appeal from the judgment of conviction. However, in November 1978, long after the time for taking an appeal had expired, George filed a motion to vacate his sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 alleging, among other things, that the district court violated Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(c)(3) by accepting his guilty plea without informing him of his constitutional right against compulsory self-incrimination. The district court, after an evidentiary hearing, denied the motion. This appeal followed. We affirm.

Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(c)(3), as amended in 1975, states that before accepting a plea of guilty “the court must address the defendant personally in open court and inform him of, and determine that he understands . . . that he has ... the right not to be compelled to incriminate himself....” The parties agree that the…