Libretti v. United States, 516 U.S. 29, 21 (1995)

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Cite as: 516 U. S. 29 (1995)

Opinion of the Court

us equate this statutory right to a jury determination of forfeitability with the familiar Sixth Amendment right to a jury determination of guilt or innocence. See, e. g., United States v. Gaudin, 515 U. S. 506, 511 (1995) ("The Constitution gives a criminal defendant the right to demand that a jury find him guilty of all the elements of the crime with which he is charged"). Without disparaging the importance of the right provided by Rule 31(e), our analysis of the nature of criminal forfeiture as an aspect of sentencing compels the conclusion that the right to a jury verdict on forfeitability does not fall within the Sixth Amendment's constitutional protection. Our cases have made abundantly clear that a defendant does not enjoy a constitutional right to a jury determination as to the appropriate sentence to be imposed. See, e. g., McMillan v. Pennsylvania, 477 U. S. 79, 93 (1986) ("[T]here is no Sixth Amendment right to jury sentencing, even where the sentence turns on specific findings of fact"); Cabana v. Bullock, 474 U. S. 376, 385 (1986) ("The decision whether a particular punishment . . . is appropriate in any given case is not one that we have ever required to be made by a jury"); Spaziano v. Florida, 468 U. S. 447, 459 (1984) (no right to a jury determination as to the imposition of the death penalty).

Given that the right to a jury determination of forfeitability is merely statutory in origin, we do not accept Libretti's suggestion that the plea agreement must make specific reference to Rule 31(e). Nor must the district court specifically advise a defendant that a plea of guilty will result in waiver of the Rule 31(e) right. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(c) details the information a district court must communicate to a defendant in order to ensure that a guilty plea is valid. Advisory Committee's Notes on 1974 Amendment of Fed. Rule Crim. Proc. 11(c), 18 U. S. C. App., p. 731 (the Rule "codifies . . . the requirements of Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U. S. 238 . . . (1969), which held that a defendant must be apprised of the fact that he relinquishes certain constitu-

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