Federal appeals court judges who in 2011 said an Augusta magistrate judge unfairly pushed a criminal defendant to plead guilty have ruled this time for the prosecutors, following direction from the U.S. Supreme Court that undid the defendant’s victory.
Judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit agreed 2½ years ago with defendant Anthony Davila that his guilty plea in a federal tax fraud case should be tossed because the magistrate judge handling Davila’s case had violated a rule against judges stepping into plea negotiations. But after the Department of Justice appealed, the nation’s highest court last year sent the case back, saying that although the magistrate’s remarks were “beyond the pale,” the Eleventh Circuit should have considered whether the remarks actually led Davila to plead guilty.
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