Question: How can Rule 20 be applied? What are the steps to follow and what would you recommend?
Answer: Rule 20 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure allows a defendant to have his or her case transferred from the district where the case is pending to the district where the defendant is physically located so long as 1) the defendant is prepared to plead guilty and 2) the prosecutors from each district consent.
For example, a man is wanted in a case in Miami, but is arrested in New York City. If no action is taken, he will be transferred to Miami for prosecution. But after reviewing his case, the man’s attorney is convinced that the defendant will have to plead guilty. The attorney also believes that the defendant will get a lighter sentence in New York than he will in Miami. So, with the client’s consent, the attorney asks the prosecutors handling the case in New York to “Rule 20” the Miami case to New York for the purpose of pleading guilty. If the prosecutors in New York and Miami are in agreement then the Court Clerk in Miami will send the file to New York “pursuant to Rule 20” where the defendant will plead guilty and be sentenced by a New York judge.
However, before making a Rule 20 request, an attorney should always consider who the judges are in each district. If the judge in the district where the case originated is a fair judge with a good reputation, it may be in the defendant’s interest not to Rule 20 the case.
In the context of a prisoner awaiting extradition, the Rule 20 possibility could only come about if two different districts wanted the defendant to answer for separate charges. Say Miami and New York both request extradition. If the defendant is brought to New York first and the defendant intends on reaching a plea bargain in the New York case he should ask his lawyer to rule the Miami case to New York. It could work the other way around where the defendant could ask that the New York case be transferred to Miami but that is rare and unlikely to be granted because Rule 20 transfers almost always occur in the district where the defendant already is unless the government thinks it is in its interest to transfer the case to Miami. The government does what is in the interest of the government to do.