Criminal Procedure — plea withdrawal

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Criminal

Criminal Procedure — plea withdrawal

The district court properly rejected a defendant’s claim that his prescribed Prozac made him incapable of voluntarily pleading guilty.

“These drugs are taken by millions of people, and it can’t just be assumed from the fact that someone is taking them that he can’t think straight. To make a case for being permitted to withdraw his guilty plea when the judge’s inquiries at the plea hearing had been adequate and had revealed no impairment of the defendant’s ability to think, the defendant needs to present the affidavit of a qualified psychiatrist. Cf. United States v. Jones, 381 F.3d 615, 618-19 (7th Cir. 2004); United States v. Cruz, 643 F.3d 639, 643 (8th Cir. 2011). Such an affidavit in this case might have described the possible effects of Prozac and Lexapro in the dosages prescribed for the defendant and any indications that his ability to think had been materially impaired by the Prozac, which he claims to have realized when he switched to Lexapro and his mind cleared. Apparently the defendant’s lawyer could find no psychiatrist willing to provide an affidavit or testimony that would lay a factual basis for a finding of incompetence to plead.”

Affirmed.

11-1821 & 11-2515 U.S. v. Hardimon

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, Reagan, J., Posner, J.