Opinion
No. 17-CR-3052-LRR
03-23-2018
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. JOE RAMON SANTILLAN, Defendant.
ORDER REGARDING MAGISTRATE'S REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION CONCERNING DEFENDANT'S GUILTY PLEA
I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
On November 30, 2017, a four-count Indictment was filed against Defendant Joe Ramon Santillan. On March 23, 2018, Defendant appeared before United States Chief Magistrate Judge C.J. Williams and entered conditional pleas of guilty to Counts 1 and 4 of the Indictment. On March 23, 2018, Judge Williams filed a Report and Recommendation in which he recommended that the court accept Defendant's conditional guilty pleas. On March 23, 2018, Defendant waived, in open court, objections to the Report and Recommendation. The court, therefore, undertakes the necessary review of Judge Williams's recommendation to accept Defendant's conditional pleas 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). 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. Civ. P. 59(b)(3).
In this case, the Defendant waived objections to the Report and Recommendation, and it appears to the court upon review of Judge Williams's findings and conclusions that there is no ground to reject or modify them. Therefore, the court ACCEPTS Judge Williams's Report and Recommendation of March 23, 2018, and ACCEPTS Defendant's conditional pleas of guilty to Counts 1 and 4 of the Indictment.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED this 23rd day of March, 2018.
/s/_________
LINDA R. READE, JUDGE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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. But see 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1); Fed. R. Crim. P. 59(b). The district court judge will undertake a de novo review of the Report and Recommendation if a written request for such review is filed within fourteen days after this order is filed.