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Court denies inmate’s reprieve request
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Posted on May 28 2005
The U.S. District Court has affirmed its decision to deny the request for reprieve by an inmate detained at a federal prison facility in Arizona, who had claimed that he was not made fully aware of what transpired during the trial court proceeding.
Chief Judge Alex R. Munson denied the reconsideration request by Ke Shi Cheng, who pressed the court to vacate its sentence in a drug case.
In that case, the court had sentenced Ke to 64 months imprisonment following his conviction on conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance charge on March 26, 2004. Ke has been serving his prison term at the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona.
Munson said the court addressed all of Ke’s grounds for vacating, setting aside or correcting his sentence in its April 25, 2004, order.
Ke had claimed limited English proficiency and that his lawyer, as well as the interpreters of the attorney and the court, failed to properly apprise him of what was going on in the court proceeding. He said the interpreters were not “certified” interpreters. His conviction stemmed from a plea agreement he had signed with federal prosecutors.
Munson junked Ke’s arguments, saying the inmate’s petition violated the specific terms of his plea agreement, wherein the latter waived his right to appeal or litigate any sentence within the stipulated sentencing range. The judge said that waiver provisions of plea agreements are enforceable. (John Ravelo)
