United States v. Mezzanatto, 513 U.S. 196, 23 (1995)

Page:   Index   Previous  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23

218

UNITED STATES v. MEZZANATTO

Souter, J., dissenting

fic may bear. Just what the traffic may bear is an open question, but what cannot be denied is that the majority opinion sanctions a demand for waiver of such scope that a defendant who gives it will be unable even to acknowledge his desire to negotiate a guilty plea without furnishing admissible evidence against himself then and there. In such cases, the possibility of trial if no agreement is reached will be reduced to fantasy. The only defendant who will not damage himself by even the most restrained candor will be the one so desperate that he might as well walk into court and enter a naked guilty plea. It defies reason to think that Congress intended to invite such a result, when it adopted a Rule said to promote candid discussion in the interest of encouraging compromise.

Page:   Index   Previous  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23

Last modified: October 4, 2007