Today the Court entered KM's written plea agreement on the record.
The Court had to go through the plea agreement with KM to make sure he understood it. The Judge had to affirm 3 things:
- The defendant who is entering the plea agreement knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily. The Court will go over the plea agreement with the defendant and will ask them a series of questions. The court will tell a defendant what they're agreeing to plead guilty to, what the normal range of sentence is and what charges, if any, the US District Court is dropping or dismissing and what sentence they'll be facing if they enter the plea agreement.
- The Court will also make sure the defendant is intelligently entering the plea agreement; advise a defendant of what rights they are giving up by entering the plea agreement; explain the defendant is giving up the right to remain silent; giving up the right to be represented by an attorney at trial; defendant gives up the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, or gives up their right to a jury trial in a felony case. The Judge wants to make sure that the defendant understands that they're giving up those rights.
- The Judge will also ask the defendant if anybody has made any threats or promises to them that are not in the plea agreement. So, the Judge needs to determine if the plea agreement is voluntarily made.
The case will now be submitted to court officers for a pre-sentencing report,
and sentencing hearing is set for May 28 and 29th.
The Federal Sentencing process explained below provides for why two days are set aside for the defendant's sentencing.
https://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/...iscellaneous/201510_fed-sentencing-basics.pdf
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See pgs 5-7 link above
C. Presentence Report and Objections
After conducting the presentence interview as well as an independent investigation of the offense and the defendant’s background, the probation officer prepares a presentence report (PSR).
The PSR contains not only information about the offense and offender but also the statutory range of punishment and a calculation of the relevant sentencing guidelines (with a corresponding guideline sentencing range), as well as any bases that may exist for imposing a sentence outside of the applicable range.
The defense and prosecution must be provided a copy of the PSR at least 35 days before sentencing and must submit objections (both factual and legal in nature) within 14 days of the sentencing hearing and otherwise may respond to the PSR (e.g., in the form of a sentencing memorandum). The PSR is a confidential document that may not be disclosed to the public and must be filed under seal. Together with a PSR, a probation officer also submits to the court a confidential sentencing recommendation (which, if the court wishes, need not be disclosed to the parties).
The Federal Bureau of Prisons also uses the PSR, in determining the offender’s “classification as an inmate..., choosing an appropriate treatment program, [and] deciding eligibility for various programs.” Additionally, the PSR is used to inform the conditions and methods of supervision of an offender on probation or supervised release.
D. Sentencing Hearing
Although not as formal as trial proceedings, federal sentencing hearings are adversarial proceedings governed by procedural rules contained primarily in Rule 32 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and Chapter Six of the Guidelines Manual. A district court must allow the defendant and counsel for both parties — and, in appropriate cases, victims — to provide input before a sentence is imposed. Furthermore, in the court’s discretion, it may allow the parties to call witnesses and present evidence about disputed facts or other matters (e.g., mitigating or aggravating factors)
