[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FILED
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
________________________ ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
MARCH 11, 2008
THOMAS K. KAHN
No. 07-14023
CLERK
Non-Argument Calendar
________________________
D. C. Docket No. 07-20154-CR-JEM
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
JEROME HAYES,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Florida
_________________________
(March 11, 2008)
Before MARCUS, PRYOR and FAY, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Jerome Hayes appeals his convictions for possession with intent to distribute
crack cocaine, 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(C); possession with intent to
distribute marijuana, 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(D); and being a convicted
felon in possession of a firearm, 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(e). Hayes argues
that his guilty plea was not knowing and voluntary because he believed that he was
reserving the right to appeal the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress.
Hayes asserts that both he and his counsel believed that the plea was conditional,
particularly in light of the court’s acknowledgment that counsel had reserved the
right to appeal the suppression issues. Hayes contends that, because he pled guilty
based on his mistaken belief that the suppression issues were preserved for appeal,
he did not understand the consequences of his plea. The government concedes that
the plea colloquy failed to satisfy a core concern of Fed.R.Crim.P. 11, that is, that
Hayes understood the consequences of his guilty plea.1 For the reasons set forth
more fully below, we vacate Hayes’s conviction and remand to the district court
for further proceedings.
A district court’s refusal to suppress evidence is non-jurisdictional and is
waived by a guilty plea. United States v. McCoy, 477 F.2d 550, 551 (5th Cir.
1973). “A defendant who wishes to preserve appellate review of a
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The court appreciates and applauds the candor of counsel for the government. Such a
concession is in accord with the highest standards and traditions of our profession.
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non-jurisdictional defect while at the same time pleading guilty can do so only by
entering a ‘conditional plea’ in accordance with Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(a)(2).” United
States v. Pierre, 120 F.3d 1153, 1155 (11th Cir. 1997). The Federal Rules of
Criminal Procedure, however, provide that “[w]ith the consent of the court and the
government, a defendant may enter a conditional plea of guilty . . . reserving in
writing the right to have an appellate court review an adverse determination of a
specified pre-trial motion.” Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(a)(2). “[F]or Rule 11 purposes,
silence or inaction by the government is not consent.” Pierre, 120 F.3d at 1156.
Here, the record indicates that Hayes pled guilty to the charges in the
indictment without the benefit of a written plea agreement. Moreover, during the
plea colloquy, the government was silent as to defense counsel’s insistence that
Hayes was pleading guilty while reserving the right to appeal the district court’s
denial of his motion to suppress. Accordingly, because neither the government nor
the district court gave its express consent for Hayes to enter a conditional plea, his
plea was not conditional as defined in Rule 11. See id.
Nevertheless, in Pierre, we found that the defendant’s unconditional plea did
not preclude relief. Id. In that case, Pierre entered a guilty plea only after he was
assured by the district court that he had preserved for appeal issues concerning the
denial of his constitutional and statutory right to a speedy trial. Id. at 1155. In
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addition, Pierre’s counsel also explicitly expressed his intent to preserve the speedy
trial issues for appeal. Id. We noted that, when accepting a guilty plea, a court
must address three core concerns underlying Rule 11: “‘(1) the guilty plea must be
free from coercion; (2) the defendant must understand the nature of the charges;
and (3) the defendant must know and understand the consequences of his guilty
plea. If one of the core concerns is not satisfied, then the plea is invalid.’” Id. at
1156 (quoting United States v. Siegel, 102 F.3d 477, 480-81 (11th Cir. 1996)).
Accordingly, we held that because Pierre had “entered . . . [his] guilty plea only on
the reasonable (but mistaken) belief that [he] had preserved [the issue] for appeal,
his plea was, as a matter of law, not knowing and voluntary.” Id. at 1156.
Here, as in Pierre, the record demonstrates that Hayes entered his guilty plea
based on the mistaken belief that he had preserved for appeal issues concerning the
suppression of evidence obtained as the result of an illegal arrest. During the plea
colloquy, Hayes’s counsel explicitly stated that Hayes was reserving the right to
appeal the district court’s earlier denial of his pre-trial motion to suppress. The
district court acknowledged defense counsel’s attempt to preserve that issue for
appeal and responded that it “assumed that [Hayes had] the right” to do so.
Moreover, at sentencing, the district court again acknowledged counsel’s attempt
to preserve the issue for appeal and explicitly stated that the objections within
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Hayes’s motion to suppress “remain[ed] viable.” Therefore, because Hayes
mistakenly believed that he had reserved the right to appeal the denial of his
motion to suppress, he did not fully understand the consequences of his plea. See
Pierre, 120 F.3d at 1156-57. Accordingly, Hayes’s guilty plea failed to satisfy a
core concern of Rule 11. Id. at 1157.
In light of the foregoing, we VACATE Hayes’s conviction and REMAND
to the district court for further proceedings.
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