Filed: Aug. 13, 2013
Latest Update: Mar. 28, 2017
Summary: Case: 11-12665 Date Filed: 08/13/2013 Page: 1 of 6 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ No. 11-12665 Non-Argument Calendar _ D.C. Docket No. 1:08-cr-20163-DMM-1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus JOEL MAYTIN-CABALLERO, Defendant-Appellant. _ No. 11-12666 Non-Argument Calendar _ D.C. Docket No. 1:08-cr-20855-DMM-1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus Case: 11-12665 Date Filed: 08/13/2013 Page: 2 of 6 JOEL MAYTIN-CABA
Summary: Case: 11-12665 Date Filed: 08/13/2013 Page: 1 of 6 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ No. 11-12665 Non-Argument Calendar _ D.C. Docket No. 1:08-cr-20163-DMM-1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus JOEL MAYTIN-CABALLERO, Defendant-Appellant. _ No. 11-12666 Non-Argument Calendar _ D.C. Docket No. 1:08-cr-20855-DMM-1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus Case: 11-12665 Date Filed: 08/13/2013 Page: 2 of 6 JOEL MAYTIN-CABAL..
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Case: 11-12665 Date Filed: 08/13/2013 Page: 1 of 6
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________
No. 11-12665
Non-Argument Calendar
________________________
D.C. Docket No. 1:08-cr-20163-DMM-1
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
JOEL MAYTIN-CABALLERO,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________
No. 11-12666
Non-Argument Calendar
________________________
D.C. Docket No. 1:08-cr-20855-DMM-1
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
Case: 11-12665 Date Filed: 08/13/2013 Page: 2 of 6
JOEL MAYTIN-CABALLERO,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________
Appeals from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Florida
________________________
(August 13, 2013)
Before CARNES, Chief Judge, BARKETT, and FAY, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Joel Maytin-Caballero pled guilty to 4 charges at a consolidated
change-of-plea hearing, based on an original indictment charging him with
(1) manufacture and possession with intent to distribute 100 or more marijuana
plants, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B), and 18 U.S.C. § 2; (2) use
and maintenance of a place for the purpose of manufacturing and distributing
marijuana, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 856(a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2; and
(3) possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, in violation
of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(i); and a separate indictment charging him with
(4) failing to appear for trial in relation to Count 3 of the original indictment, in
violation of 18 U.S.C.§ 3146(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)(i). On appeal, Maytin-Caballero
argues that the transcript of the change-of-plea hearing did not establish that a
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Spanish language interpreter was present, and, therefore, it is not clear that his
guilty pleas were voluntary.
Following the filing of his merits brief in this Court, the government filed a
Fed.R.App.P. 10(e) motion to supplement the record with the district court,
requesting that the court confirm that a Spanish language interpreter was present at
Maytin-Caballero’s change-of-plea hearing. The district court granted the
government’s motion, finding that it was “clear that a Spanish interpreter was
present at the defendant’s plea hearing,” and that an interpreter was present at
every hearing where Maytin-Caballero was present in court. It noted that, although
the transcript of the hearing did not reflect that an interpreter was present, the
docket and the clerk’s minute entry form did, and the government since had
confirmed with the Interpreter’s Office for the Southern District of Florida that an
interpreter was assigned to the hearing. The government then filed a “Motion for
Summary Affirmance and to Stay Briefing Schedule” with this Court, arguing that
there is “no dispute” that Maytin-Caballero had a Spanish interpreter at his
change-of-plea hearing, as the district court confirmed this fact. Maytin-Caballero
has not responded to this motion.
After consideration of the parties’ filings on appeal and review of the record,
we grant the motion for summary affirmance and dismiss as moot the motion to
stay the briefing schedule.
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Summary disposition is appropriate either where time is of the essence, such
as “situations where important public policy issues are involved or those where
rights delayed are rights denied,” or where “the position of one of the parties is
clearly right as a matter of law so that there can be no substantial question as to the
outcome of the case, or where, as is more frequently the case, the appeal is
frivolous.” Groendyke Transp., Inc. v. Davis,
406 F.2d 1158, 1162 (5th Cir. 1969);
see United States v. Martinez,
407 F.3d 1170, 1173-74 (11th Cir. 2005) (construing
the defendant’s “unconventional” motion as a motion for summary reversal,
granting the motion, vacating the defendant’s sentence, and remanding the case for
resentencing where the district court had committed plain error by treating the
Sentencing Guidelines as mandatory).
“The appointment of an interpreter, both under the Court Interpreters Act[,
28 U.S.C. § 1827,] and as a constitutional matter, is committed to the sound
discretion of the trial judge.” United States v. Edouard,
485 F.3d 1324, 1337
(11th Cir. 2007). We review a district court’s determination as to the use of an
interpreter for an abuse of discretion, to determine whether the failure to provide
an interpreter made the proceeding fundamentally unfair. Id. Because
Maytin-Caballero did not raise this issue before the district court, however, we
review only for plain error. United States v. Raad,
406 F.3d 1322, 1323 (11th Cir.
2005).
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Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 10(e) provides that:
(1) If any difference arises about whether the record truly discloses
what occurred in the district court, the difference must be submitted to
and settled by that court and the record conformed accordingly.
(2) If anything material to either party is omitted from or misstated in
the record by error or accident, the omission or misstatement may be
corrected and a supplemental record may be certified and forwarded:
(A) on stipulation of the parties;
(B) by the district court before or after the record has been
forwarded; or
(C) by the court of appeals.
(3) All other questions as to the form and content of the record must
be presented to the court of appeals.
Fed.R.App.P. 10(e).
There was no plain error in the lack of a Spanish language interpreter at
Maytin-Caballero’s change-of-plea hearing because the record is clear that there
was, in fact, a Spanish language interpreter at the hearing. Specifically, (1) the
district court confirmed upon the government’s Rule 10(e) motion that there was
an interpreter at the hearing; (2) the minute entries for the hearing, which were
signed by Maytin-Caballero and his counsel, reflect that the hearing was conducted
in Spanish; (3) the docket entries indicate that a Spanish language interpreter was
present; and (4) the Supervisory Interpreter for the Interpreter’s Office for the
Southern District of Florida submitted a signed declaration that a Spanish language
interpreter was assigned to the hearing.
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We AFFIRM Maytin-Caballero’s convictions and sentences, and we
DISMISS as moot the motion to stay the briefing schedule.
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