United States v. Wroblewski, No. 15-1692 (8th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseDefendant appealed his conviction after pleading guilty to violating 18 U.S.C. 3146(a)(1) based on his failure to appear at a supervised release revocation hearing. Defendant argued that he had not been released under 18 U.S.C. Chapter 207, and thus could not have violated section 3146(a)(1) by failing to appear at his revocation hearing pursuant to the summons. The court concluded that a defendant who has merely been served with a summons, but who has not yet appeared in court pursuant to that summons, has not been “released under” Chapter 207. In this case, defendant had been served a summons, but had not yet appeared in court pursuant to that summons. Therefore, defendant had not been released under Chapter 207 when he failed to appear at his supervised release revocation hearing, and could not have violated section 3146(a)(1). Because defendant's conduct did not, as a matter of law, meet all of the elements of the crime to which he pled, the district court plainly erred in determining otherwise and the error affected his substantial rights. Accordingly, the court reversed and remanded.
Court Description: Shepherd, Author, with Smith and Colloton, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Criminal law. Where a defendant has merely been served with a summons, but had not yet appeared in court pursuant to that summons, he has not been released under 18 U.S.C. Chapter 207 and a failure to appear at a supervised release revocation hearing cannot create a violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3146(a)(1). Here, defendant had not been released under Chapter 207, an essential element of the crime to which he pleaded guilty, and the district court erred in accepting his guilty plea without establishing that there was an adequate factual basis for the plea. Conviction and sentence vacated.
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