Transcript of hearing as to Andre Lorquet held on 9-7-2023 — USA v. Lorquet (Dkt. 127, S.D. Fla.)

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U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida · No. 1:22-cr-20326-KMM · Doc. 127 · 2024-05-28 · Docket on CourtListener

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
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 MIAMI DIVISION
 CASE NO.  22-cr-20326-KMM
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
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Plaintiff, 
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vs.  
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Miami, Florida
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September 7, 2023
ANDRE LORQUET, 
Pages 1-11
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Defendant.  
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_____________________________________________________________________
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TRANSCRIPT OF HEARING
BEFORE THE HONORABLE K. MICHAEL MOORE
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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APPEARANCES:  
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FOR THE PLAINTIFF:  
By:  Jonathan Bailyn, A.U.S.A.
United States Attorney's Office
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99 Northeast 4th Street
Miami, Florida 33130
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FOR THE DEFENDANT:  
By:  Henry Philip Bell, Esq.  
Bell, Rosquete, Reyes, Esteban, PLLC
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999 Ponce De Leon Boulevard
Suite 1120
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Coral Gables, FL 33134
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REPORTED BY:  
DAWN M. SAVINO, R.P.R., C.R.R.  
Official Federal Court Stenographer  
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111 North Adams Street
Tallahassee, Florida  32301
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Telephone:  850-521-3674
Dawn_Savino@flnd.uscourts.gov
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P-R-O-C-E-E-D-I-N-G-S
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THE COURT:  Good morning, everyone.  Please be seated.  
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Please call the case.  
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COURTROOM DEPUTY:  Calling case number 22-CR-20326, the 
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United States of America versus Andre Lorquet.  
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Counsel, please state your appearances, beginning with the 
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government.  
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MR. BAILYN:  Good morning, Your Honor.  Jonathan Bailyn on 
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behalf of the United States.
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THE COURT:  Good morning.  
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MS. CHAREST-TURKEN:  Good morning, Judge, Raemy 
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Charest-Turken from Asset Forfeiture.
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THE COURT:  Good morning.  
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MR. BAILYN:  This is Special Agent Jose Hernandez from HSI.
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THE COURT:  Good morning.
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MR. BELL:  Good morning, Judge.  Henry Bell on behalf of 
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the defendant, Andre Lorquet, who is, of course, in court sitting to 
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my right.  
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THE COURT:  Okay.  Good morning, everyone.  Thank you for 
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coming in.  
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So Mr. Bell, I appreciate you being here and taking on the 
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assignment.  I got your motion to withdraw.  
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So this is sort of the second go-around that we've been in 
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in this case.  The first time around we granted the prior attorney's 
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motion to withdraw.  And we could do that right now and then the 
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defendant would be left back in the position where he's entered a 
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plea.  
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But I think as I may have referenced at an earlier hearing 
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-- and I understand that there are irreconcilable differences and 
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that you're not in a position to divulge your attorney-client 
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relationships and communications, and I respect that.  But he's 
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moving for -- the defendant wants to move to withdraw his guilty 
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plea, and I'm assuming the government opposes that.  Is that correct?  
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MR. BAILYN:  Yes, Your Honor.  We filed an objection to the 
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magistrate's report and recommendation at Docket Entry 70 where we 
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laid out our rationale for opposing that motion.
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THE COURT:  Okay.  And that was late as I recall in time?  
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MR. BAILYN:  Your Honor allowed us to file it late.  I had 
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a misunderstanding with the procedural posture.
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THE COURT:  In any event it's the government's position 
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still on the substance, forget the tardiness, but on the substance 
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you're still opposing the motion to withdraw.
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MR. BAILYN:  Yes, Your Honor.
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THE COURT:  Okay.  So Mr. Bell, I wonder whether the 
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conflict would extend to prohibiting you from continuing to represent 
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the defendant for the referral of the motion to withdraw the guilty 
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plea to be heard by the magistrate judge, and the magistrate judge 
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will conduct whatever hearing as to the knowing and voluntariliness 
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of the plea that was entered, and then give a report and 
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recommendation to me.  And if it's determined that she recommends 
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that he should be allowed to do it, the government will file 
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objections.  If she determines that he should not be allowed, you can 
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file your objections and we can tee it up and make it a ripe motion 
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and make a ruling on it.  And if we have to have a hearing, we'll 
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have a hearing.  
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But are you in a position -- and then once that gets 
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resolved, depending on how it does get resolved, we can revisit the 
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motion to withdraw as attorney for the defendant.  
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Is that something that you can live with?  
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MR. BELL:  I believe so.  I would, if the court will 
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indulge me, ask for a second or two here to confer with Mr. Lorquet.
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THE COURT:  Sure.  Okay.  Please do.  
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(Counsel conferring with defendant)
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MR. BELL:  Judge, following up on your comments, I think 
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yes, I can live with that.  I will -- we can shelve, if you will, the 
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motion to withdraw as counsel, and I will continue to represent him 
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and his motion to withdraw the plea as you've articulated or 
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described here this morning.  
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You know, he's asking or wants that to move forward or that 
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be re-filed, for lack of a better term.  And if you're referring it 
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to Judge Louis, I will address it before Judge Louis and then file 
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whatever objection if any is necessary.
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THE COURT:  Okay.
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So Mr. Lorquet, let me address you personally.  I do think 
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at this point, while you may have some disagreements with your lawyer 
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about other matters, that at least with respect to this issue of 
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motion to withdraw the guilty plea, you would be better served by 
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having a lawyer at your side than trying to do it on your own.  Or 
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having -- you know, maybe the magistrate judge, if I just referred it 
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to her, would then say well, now we're going to get a third attorney 
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for just that hearing.  I don't think it would really serve anybody's 
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interests, I mean, unless you just can't get along with Mr. Bell, 
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period.  But, I mean, I think with respect to this particular motion 
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to withdraw the guilty plea, that you would be better served by 
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having a lawyer familiar with the case, and Mr. Bell is familiar in 
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that regard.  I think he could serve you.  Depending on how it goes 
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after that, then we'll address where we are in that posture so -- 
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whatever that posture is at that time.  
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With respect to the referral, there is an outstanding 
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motion to refer.  Do we know what it is on the docket?  
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MR. BAILYN:  So Your Honor, procedurally the report and 
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recommendation and the motion to withdraw the guilty plea has been 
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denied as moot because the defense filed, on July 24th, an unopposed 
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motion to withdraw the motion to withdraw.  That motion was granted, 
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and then the court denied as moot the pending objection -- or excuse 
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me, the pending report and recommendation and the pending motion to 
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withdraw the guilty plea.  
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So I think there's two -- if I may continue, Your Honor, I 
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think there would be two ways to go about doing this if the court 
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were to entertain a motion to withdraw.
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THE COURT:  Yeah, that's what I want to hear.  
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MR. BAILYN:  Yeah.  I guess it would be to sort of -- to 
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vacate the order denying as moot, or to allow the defendant to file a 
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new motion to withdraw the guilty plea and start the process anew.
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THE COURT:  Okay.  Do you have a preference?  You didn't 
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file the first motion to withdraw the guilty plea.
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MR. BELL:  That would be correct.
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THE COURT:  Okay.  So if you want your own handiwork on the 
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pleading, I'm happy to -- I mean it's more work for you, I'm happy --
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MR. BELL:  It's not the work, Judge.  
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THE COURT:  Well --
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MR. BELL:  You know, I mean, again, I don't want to get 
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into my attorney-client relationship but, I mean, I think either one 
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of those two -- if you don't mind, if we could sort of speak out loud 
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or think out loud here for a second.  If you vacate the order, as 
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counsel has suggested, then there's an objection pending before the 
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court, right?  And then I would need to respond to the objection and 
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then you would decide it?  Or would this just go back to Judge Louis?  
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My guess is procedurally, the way I'm sort of reading 
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things, if you vacate the order granting our motion to withdraw, the 
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motion to withdraw the plea, then that puts the government's 
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objection to Judge Louis's report and recommendation in play, if you 
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will.  Do we agree there?  
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THE COURT:  Say that again?  
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MR. BELL:  Okay.  So procedurally what happened here, 
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Judge, is the following:  Judge Louis entered a report and 
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recommendation that the motion to withdraw the plea be granted.  You 
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may recall that.  
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THE COURT:  And she did that on the basis that it was 
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unopposed.  
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MR. BELL:  Yeah.  I mean, she cited in the report and 
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recommendation that the averments were unrebutted.  The government 
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then filed an objection to that report and recommendation, and in 
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that objection they explained why they hadn't rebutted, if you will, 
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the averments earlier.  Then I was appointed.  Right?  
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THE COURT:  Right.  
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MR. BELL:  I'm appointed with that objection pending before 
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Your Honor.  We then, the defendant, moved to withdraw the motion to 
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withdraw the guilty plea.  You granted that motion rendering the 
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objection moot, and that's kind of where we are today.  
So 
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if you vacate that order, right, that renders the whole thing moot 
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and granting my motion to withdraw the motion to withdraw the plea, 
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procedurally it seems to me that that objection that was pending -- 
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and to be more specific, the objection to Judge Louis's R and R -- is 
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now in play again.  That becomes viable, if you will.  And I guess my 
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question of you is whether you agree with that procedural 
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understanding.  
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THE COURT:  Well, so step one in this scenario would be 
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that I would be vacating the order granting the motion to withdraw 
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the guilty plea, right?  
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MR. BELL:  Right.  No, you would be vacating the order -- 
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yes.  The order granting the motion -- I'm sorry.  No, you're right.  
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I think you described it correctly.  I apologize.  
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THE COURT:  And that is docket entry number?  
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MR. BAILYN:  77.  
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THE COURT:  That also would -- that would leave open the --
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MR. BELL:  The government's objections.
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THE COURT:  The government's objections?  
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MR. BELL:  Right.  So I think candidly --
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THE COURT:  So that should be denied as well without 
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prejudice.  What is that docket entry?  
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MR. BAILYN:  Is Your Honor referring to the government's 
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objections or the report and recommendation?  
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THE COURT:  Yes, the government's objections.  
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MR. BAILYN:  So the objections are Docket Entry 70.  
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MR. BELL:  So if you denied those objections and ruled 
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against the United States, then you would be vacating the plea.  
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Perhaps the easier route is just to allow the defendant to 
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re-file or file a new motion to vacate the plea.  That would allow me 
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to work with him on that, although that gets awfully close to the 
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reasons why I'm here on a motion to withdraw as counsel.  
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THE COURT:  Well, okay.  I wouldn't deny them without 
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prejudice, I would deny them as moot in light of the referral back to 
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the magistrate judge on the --
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MR. BELL:  On the original motion.  
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THE COURT:  On the original motion, or your new motion.  
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MR. BELL:  But if you did that -- that makes sense, Judge, 
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right?  Because then she would then -- they would have the 
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opportunity to file a response to his motion before Magistrate Louis 
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is basically what you're getting at.
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THE COURT:  Right.  Okay.  
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So let's do that.  Let's have you -- see what happens when 
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you don't file your objections on time?  
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So you'll go ahead and file a motion to withdraw the guilty 
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plea, right?  
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MR. BELL:  I can do that.  
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THE COURT:  And how long will it take for you to do that?  
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MR. BELL:  You know, ordinarily it would be quick.  But 
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candidly I'm really busy this week, and next week I'm going to be at 
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the CJA conference.  So I would ask for two weeks.
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THE COURT:  Two weeks?  Today is the 7th.  So why don't we 
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give you until -- this will give you something to do on a weekend.  
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We'll give you until the 18th.  That's a Monday.
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MR. BELL:  That's fair.  
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THE COURT:  To file a motion to withdraw the guilty plea.  
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When I get that, I will vacate the order granting the 
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motion to withdraw guilty plea, Docket 77.  I will deny as moot 
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Docket Entry Number 70, and I will refer the motion to withdraw the 
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guilty plea to the magistrate judge, and I will deny without 
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prejudice the motion to withdraw counsel.  
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Tell me what's wrong.  
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MR. BAILYN:  Yeah.  So, Your Honor, Docket Entry 77 is the 
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paperless order granting the defendant's motion to withdraw his 
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guilty plea.  If the court were to vacate that order, it would be 
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vacating denials as moot that were contained within that order, and 
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it would therefore make Judge Louis's current report and 
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recommendation viable again, as well as the previous motion to 
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withdraw.  
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I don't think there's a need to do anything with Docket 
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Number 77.  As of now, we have sort of a blank slate.  And if Your 
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Honor would like the defendant to file a new motion to withdraw, the 
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government can file its responses and we can start that process anew.  
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THE COURT:  And what happens with these other orders that 
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are outstanding?  
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MR. BAILYN:  They're not outstanding.  They've been denied 
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as moot, Your Honor.  
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THE COURT:  No action needs to be taken on 77?  
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MR. BELL:  I think he's right, because basically we're just 
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filing a second motion to withdraw the plea.  The other one has been 
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resolved already, and now he's coming back with a second.  
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THE COURT:  Okay.  Don't do anything?  
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MR. BELL:  I mean, I'll defer to the court but I understand 
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Mr. Bailyn's, sort of, procedural point that what we're really doing 
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here is permitting, if you will, the defendant, despite the prior 
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rulings and the prior motions, to advance a second motion to withdraw 
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his guilty plea.  
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THE COURT:  Okay.  I just want to make sure that our record 
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for appellate review purposes, that they understand what we did and 
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why we did it.  
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MR. BELL:  I understand.
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THE COURT:  So I'm not going to do anything then other than 
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wait until the 28th for you to file your motion to withdraw your 
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guilty plea.
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MR. BELL:  Understood.
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THE COURT:  Okay?  
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MR. BAILYN:  Is it the 28th?  I think you had earlier said 
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the 18th.  
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THE COURT:  The 18th.  Excuse me.
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MR. BELL:  The 18th is fine, and thank you.  
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THE COURT:  Okay.  Anything else?  Thank you for coming in.  
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MR. BELL:  Thank you, Judge.  
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COURTROOM DEPUTY:  All rise.  
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    (PROCEEDINGS CONCLUDED)
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C E R T I F I C A T E
I certify that the foregoing is a correct transcript from 
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the record of the proceedings in the above-entitled matter.  Any 
redaction of personal data identifiers pursuant to the Judicial 
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Conference Policy on Privacy is noted within the transcript.
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5-28-2024                 /s/ Dawn M. Savino, R.P.R., C.R.R.
Date     
          DAWN M. SAVINO, R.P.R., C.R.R.  
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10:13 AM
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10:13 AM
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