United States v. Edward Alan Garcia

Defendant-appellant Edward Alan Garcia (“Garcia”) appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to withdraw his guilty plea to a charge of manufacture of methamphetamine and a related firearm charge. After his plea was accepted but before he was sentenced, Garcia moved to with draw his plea on the basis of new evidence and an intervening change in the law. Because the newly discovered evidence constituted a “fair and just reason” to permit him to withdraw the plea prior to sentencing, we vacate the judgment of conviction, set aside the guilty plea, and remand for further proceedings.

I. BACKGROUND

In August 2002, a confidential informant told King County, Washington, local law enforcement officers that Garcia was involved in selling and manufacturing methamphetamine at his residence. The informant told detectives that he had been present when Garcia cooked methamphetamine in the residence, that Garcia had three loaded firearms, and that Garcia often answered the door with a loaded shotgun.

On September 6, 2002, officers executed a search warrant at Garcia’s alleged residence in Rénton, Washington. When the officers arrived, Garcia and two women were in the down stairs…