The second link is the order from the DC Circuit to Judge Sullivan commanding him to reply to the Petition for a Writ of Mandamus.
The DC Circuit, on its own motion, commanded Judge Sullivan to reply to the Petition for a Writ of Mandamus within 10 days.
It helps that Flynn got a favorable draw of Judges for his panel.
United States Circuit Judges Karen L. Henderson, Robert Wilkins and Neomi Rao are on the panel.
I fully expect them to grant the Petition for a Writ of Mandamus and send down a Writ of Mandamus to Judge Sullivan commanding him to dismiss the case with prejudice.
So, they don’t think a judge should be able to decide they think someone is a criminal and appoint someone to bring a case against them in their court?
Or how about guilty of pleading guilty?
Flynn already has a case brought against him. Sullivan had nothing to do with the indictment. Flynn already pled guilty.
The prosecution can ask to dismiss, but it’s ultimately up to the court to grant it. That’s literally the law.
The district court is asking for a decision from Sullivan. They aren’t telling him how to act. This could be bad for Flynn because if Sullivan decides on his own, before Gleeson submits the Amicus brief, Flynn’s attorneys would have nothing to go on to counter a decision Sullivan will make without any input from either side.
Not sure why forcing a decision before Flynn’s side could provide counter arguments would be seen as a positive.
Ok. There have certainly been many cases of people seeking to withdraw guilty pleas. Are there any cases, federal or state, where a defendant has been charged with criminal contempt for attempting to withdraw a guilty plea? If not, would this be a good thing to introduce into the justice system?
The first I found was United States v. Vargas-Gutierrez, 464 Fed. Appx. 492. The circuit affirmed a lower court’s decisions to both deny withdrawal of the guilty plea, and impose an additional perjury-based sentence enhancement for that plea.
I’d do further research - but I can’t link you to Lexis, and I usually charge $40 an hour for this kind of thing.
As I noted yesterday, Sullivan’s encouragement of amicus briefs, which are not authorized in criminal cases, flies in the face of Sullivan’s own very firm orders previously declining to permit amicus briefs in Flynn’s case — some two dozen times by Ms. Powell’s count.
The appointment of Gleeson is equally astonishing and offensive to the principle of courts as impartial arbiters. Gleeson — who worked at the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York with Loretta Lynch (later President Obama’s attorney general) and Andrew Weissmann (chief prosecutor on the Mueller probe that brought the Flynn case — and now a Biden for President fundraiser) — has co-written a Washington Post op-ed portraying the Justice Department’s dismissal motion as an abuse of power.
^^^^ why is this behavior not considered criminal and this judge not being charged? ^^^^
