United States v. Bain, No. 17-10107 (9th Cir. 2019)
Annotate this CaseThe Ninth Circuit reversed defendant's conviction and sentence for armed bank robbery, holding that his inadvertent placement of a pocket knife on the bank's counter while pulling a plastic bag out of his pocket did not put in jeopardy the life of any person by the use of a dangerous weapon. The panel held that the district court committed plain error in accepting defendant's guilty plea without a sufficient factual basis, and the error affected defendant's substantial rights where it was reasonably probable that he would not have pleaded guilty but for the error.
Court Description: Criminal Law. The panel reversed a conviction for armed bank robbery, vacated a sentence, and remanded for further proceedings. The panel held that the defendant’s inadvertent placement of a closed pocket knife on the bank counter did not constitute the “use” of a dangerous weapon under 18 U.S.C. § 2113(d); and the district court therefore committed plain error under Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(b)(3) by accepting, without a sufficient factual basis, the defendant’s guilty plea to armed bank robbery. The panel held that the plain error affected the defendant’s substantial rights because it is reasonably probable that the defendant would not have pleaded guilty to that count, but for the Rule 11 error.
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