Opinion
No. 20-CR-1001 CJW-MAR
02-24-2020
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. ALVARAO ORTIZ-CAMARILLO, Defendant.
ORDER REGARDING MAGISTRATE JUDGE'S REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION CONCERNING DEFENDANT'S GUILTY PLEA
I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
On January 8, 2020, a one-count Indictment was filed against defendant. On February 6, 2020, defendant appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Mark A. Roberts and entered a plea of guilty to count one of the Indictment. On February 7, 2020, Judge Roberts filed a Report and Recommendation in which he recommended that defendant's guilty plea be accepted. The parties did not file objections to Judge Roberts' Report and Recommendation. The Court, therefore, undertakes the necessary review of Judge Roberts' recommendation to accept defendant's plea in this case.
II. ANALYSIS
Pursuant to statute, this Court's standard of review for a magistrate judge's report and recommendation is as follows:
A judge of the court shall make a de novo determination of those portions of the report or specified proposed findings or recommendations to which objection is made. A judge of the court may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or recommendations made by the magistrate judge.28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C).
Where parties make no objections to a magistrate's report and recommendation, the Court reviews the magistrate's report and recommendation for clear error. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A). Similarly, Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 59(b) provides for review of a magistrate judge's report and recommendation on dispositive motions, where objections are made, as follows:
The district judge must consider de novo any objection to the magistrate judge's recommendation. The district judge may accept, reject, or modify the recommendation, receive further evidence, or resubmit the matter to the magistrate judge with instructions.FED. R. CRIM. P. 59(b)(3).
In this case, the parties filed no objections, and it appears to the Court upon review that Judge Roberts' findings and conclusions are not clearly erroneous. Therefore, the Court ACCEPTS Judge Roberts' Report and Recommendation of February 7, 2020, and ACCEPTS defendant's plea of guilty in this case to count one of the Indictment.
IT IS SO ORDERED this 24th day of February, 2020.
/s/_________
C.J. Williams
United States District Judge
Northern District of Iowa
United States v. Cortez-Hernandez, 673 F. App'x 587, 590-91 (8th Cir. 2016) (per curiam), suggests that a defendant may have the right to de novo review of a magistrate judge's recommendation to accept a plea of guilty even if no objection is filed.