Defendant's medications were no barrier to plea bargain

In this criminal case, the defendant pled guilty. In order to do that, the trial court has to make sure the defendant is pleading guilty voluntarily and that he knows what he is doing. One way to accomplish that is to ask if the defendant is taking any medications. That line of inquiry brings this case to the Court of Appeals.

The case is United States v. Boria, issued on February 4. Defendant was charged with conspiring to distribute cocaine and possessing a firearm. He then decided to plead guilty. The judge asked if he was taking medication. Defendant said he was taking medication "for sleeping problems and bipolar." The judge then asked a series of questions relating to defendant's capacity to understand what was happening, i.e., "are you clearheaded" and "do you understand what's happening here in court?" Defendant answered Yes to these questions. 

Defendant seeks to vacate the sentence (a mandatory term of 15 years) on the basis that the trial judge did not adequately ask about his medication, their side effects, and their impact on him. Defendant loses the appeal under the "plain error" standard of review, one of the most difficult appellate standards, but which applies here since defendant did not raise this objection in the district court. But you get the sense that even under a less burdensome standard of review, defendant would lose the appeal.

The Court of Appeals (Park, Lohier and Kearse) finds that while the district court must ask about the side effects of medications, it did so here when it asked if defendant felt clearheaded and understood what was happening in court that day. The Court of Appeals sees no "red flags" in the record on this point that might have caused the trial judge to pause before proceeding with the plea proceeding.