Jones
United States v. Jones
Opinion
Lead Opinion
MEMORANDUM **
In this appeal, we conclude that Judge Ideman conducted an inadequate guilty plea colloquy with Appellant Henry Jones, and that under the law of this Circuit, the court’s discrete error was not harmless. Therefore, we reverse Jones’s conviction and remand the case to the district court with instructions to allow him to re-plead.
Because the parties are familiar with the facts of this case, we recount them here only as necessary to explain our decision.
A. Standard of Review
Whether the district court complied with Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11 (“Rule 11”) is reviewed de novo. United States v. Smith, 60 F.3d 595 , 597 n. 1 (9th Cir.1995). The failure to comply with Rule 11 is reversible unless it constitutes harmless error. FED. R. CRIM. P. 11(h) (“Any variance from the procedures required by this rule which does not affect substantial rights shall be disregarded.”); United States v. Odedo, 154 F.3d 937, 940 (9th Cir.1998) (“[W]e hold that the Rule *872 11(h) ‘harmless error’ standard applies to all Rule 11 errors, regardless of whether they were ever raised before the district court.”).
B. Analysis
Rule 11(c)(1) requires the district judge to “inform…