United States v. Lewis, No. 10-2153 (8th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseAppellant pled guilty in 2005 to being a felon in possession of a firearm as part of a plea agreement and sentenced to 120 years imprisonment to run consecutively with a separate 30 month sentence imposed upon revocation of his supervised release arising from an earlier conviction. In 2009, the Government filed a Fed. R. Crim. P. 35(b) motion to reduce appellant's sentence due to his substantial assistance in the investigation and prosecution of other individuals and recommended that his sentence be reduced by 24 months. A hearing was held on the Rule 35(b) motion but appellant was not present, although his counsel was, and subsequently, the district court granted the 24 month reduction. Almost two months later, appellant learned that the Rule 35(b) hearing had been held in his absence and filed a motion requesting a new Rule 35(b) hearing in which he could participate. The court held that appellant had carried his burden of showing that the denial of his contractual right to participate under the plea agreement in the Rule 35(b) hearing constituted plain error when it violated his due process rights and where the error seriously affected the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings. Therefore, the court vacated appellant's conviction and remanded for a new Rule 35(b) hearing in which he was allowed to participate.
Court Description: Criminal case - Sentencing. The district court erred in conducting a Rule 35(b) hearing in defendant's absence as the plain language of the plea agreement guaranteed defendant a right to participate in the hearing; this error affected defendant's substantial rights and constituted plain error; case remanded for a new Rule 35(b) hearing. Judge Colloton, dissenting.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.