Benvin v. USDC NVR, No. 14-72181 (9th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CasePetitioner, charged in a fifty-count indictment, petitioned for a writ of mandamus, seeking an order directing the district court not to condition its acceptance of the parties’ plea agreement on the government’s obtaining consent from alleged victims before dismissing the remaining counts and seeking an order that would prevent the district court from conditioning the United States Attorney’s dismissal of the remaining counts in the indictment on a showing that the government would struggle to prove petitioner’s guilt on those counts, as well as seeking reassignment to a different district judge to preserve the appearance of justice. The court concluded that the district court erred by adding a particular term to the plea agreement and inserting itself into the parties' plea discussions and concluded that the Bauman v. United States District Court factors weigh in favor of granting mandamus relief. In this case, the court concluded that the appearance of justice will best be served by reassignment to a different judge. Accordingly, the court granted the petition and ordered that the case be reassigned to another district judge.
Court Description: Criminal Law/Mandamus. The panel granted a criminal defendant’s petition for a writ of mandamus, and instructed the district court to reassign the case to another district judge, in a case in which the defendant asserted that the district court improperly interjected itself into plea negotiations. The panel held that the district court’s suggestion that the parties add a particular term to the plea agreement – i.e., that the parties stipulate to a restitution amount of $3 million to resolve the district court’s concerns that the alleged victims of dismissed counts would not otherwise be entitled to receive restitution – constituted impermissible involvement in plea discussions. The panel held that the district court also inappropriately involved itself in plea negotiations, in violation of Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(c)(1), when it imposed conditions on its approval of the government’s proposal to dismiss counts. The panel concluded that the factors set forth in Bauman v. United States District Court weigh in favor of granting mandamus relief, and that the appearance of justice will best be served by reassignment to a different judge. IN RE BENVIN 3
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