DOJ-OGR-00000236.pdf

--- Page 1 --- The extracted text from the document image is: **Header:** 13 **Body:** Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419, 456-457 (1995) (Scalia, J., dissenting) (citing Graver Tank & Mfg. Co. v. Linde Air Prods. Co., 336 U.S. 271, 275 (1949)). 2. Petitioner nevertheless urges (Pet. 7-12) the Court to grant a writ of certiorari in this case to resolve asserted disagreement in the courts of appeals over how broadly references to "the United States" or "the government" in a plea agreement should be read. That contention is likewise misplaced. The Second and Seventh Circuits have stated that a promise regarding a defendant's prosecution on behalf of "the government" or "the United States" by default "binds only the office of the United States Attorney for the district in which the plea is entered unless it affirmatively appears that the agreement contemplates a broader restriction." United States v. Annabi, 771 F.2d 670, 672 (2d Cir. 1985) (per curiam); see Rourke, 74 F.3d at 807 & n.5 (7th Cir.). And in the Third, Fourth, and Eighth Circuits, "when a United States Attorney *** contracts on behalf of 'the United States' or 'the Government' in a plea agreement for specific crimes, that attorney speaks for and binds all his or her fellow United States Attorneys *** absent express contractual limitations or disavowals to the contrary." Gebbie, 294 F.3d at 550 (3d Cir.); see United States v. Carter, 454 F.2d 426, 428 (4th Cir. 1972) (en banc), cert. denied, 417 U.S. 933 (1974); United States v. Van Thournout, 100 F.3d 590, 594 (8th Cir. 1996). 2 Petitioner appears to acknowledge (Pet. 10-11) that the Ninth Circuit has not expressly addressed the matter at issue here. In Thomas v. Immigration & Naturalization Service, 35 F.3d 1332 (1994), a cooperation agreement "plainly and unambiguously *** bound the INS," id. at 1337, so no need existed to address a more **Footer:** DOJ-OGR-00000236