Guilty Plea Waives Sixth Amendment Speedy Trial Challenge

US v. Lozano: Lozano illegally reentered the country in 2011 and was charged with state crimes. While in custody he was also charged federally with illegal reentry. However, he was deported when his state case was concluded, without ever learning of the federal charges. In 2018, after he returned to the US, he was arrested on the 2011 illegal reentry charge. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 51 months in prison.

On appeal, the Fourth Circuit affirmed Lozano’s conviction and sentence. For the first time, Lozano argued that the delay between his charge and his guilty plea violated his Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial. The court rejected that argument on multiple grounds. First, it concluded that by pleading guilty, Lozano waived this issue. It rejected Lozano’s argument that the issue was preserved under the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Glass, noting that a speedy trial claim was not the kind of issue that goes to “the government’s power to initiate the proceedings against the defendant.” Second, applying plain error, the court found Lozano’s argument failed on the merits anyway. While the delay was presumptively prejudicial, the other factors weighed against Lozano, including that he did not assert his right to a speedy trial below and could not show any prejudice.