Cite as: 535 U. S. 55 (2002)
Opinion of the Court
fore the District Court to plead guilty to tax evasion, however, the judge's colloquy with him went no further than McCarthy's understanding of his right to a jury trial, the particular sentencing possibilities, and the absence of any threats or promises. There was no discussion of the elements of the crime charged, or the facts that might support it. Indeed, despite the allegation that McCarthy had acted "willfully and knowingly," his lawyer consistently argued at the sentencing hearing that his client had merely been neglectful, ibid. Although defense counsel raised no objection to the trial court's deficient practice under Rule 11, this Court reversed the conviction on direct review. The Court rested the result solely on the trial judge's obvious failure to conform to the Rule, id., at 464, and emphasized that the Rule's procedural safeguards served important constitutional interests in guarding against inadvertent and ignorant waivers of constitutional rights, id., at 465. Although the Government asked to have the case remanded for further evidentiary hearing and an opportunity to show that McCarthy's plea had been made knowingly and voluntarily, the Court said no and ordered the plea and resulting conviction vacated.
Vonn does not, of course, claim that McCarthy held that a silent defendant had no plain-error burden, but he says that this must have been the Court's understanding, or it would have taken McCarthy's failure to object to the trial judge's Rule 11 failings, combined with his failure to meet the requirements of the plain-error rule, as a bar to relief. This reasoning is unsound, however, for two reasons, the first being that not a word was said in McCarthy about the plain-error rule, or for that matter about harmless error. The opinion said nothing about Rule 52 or either of the rules by name. The parties' briefs said nothing. The only serious issue was raised by the Government's request to remand the case for a new evidentiary hearing on McCarthy's state of mind when he entered the plea, and not even this had any-
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