United States v. Leonard Young

OPINION OF THE COURT

ADAMS, Circuit Judge.

The problem of determining whether a defendant who pleads guilty does so voluntarily with an understanding of the charge against him and the consequences of the plea has been a major concern of the courts since the decision in Kercheval v. United States. 1 Rules 11 and 32(d) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure attempt to ensure that a defendant does not waive his constitutional rights by pleading guilty unless he does so “knowingly and voluntarily”. The present appeal requires that we examine Rule 32(d) and the district court’s discretion to…