Because Benitez did not object to the District Court's failure prior to his conviction, the error was not preserved for appeal and so was reviewed under the plain error standard of Fed. R. Crim. P. 52(b), pursuant to the Supreme Court's ruling in "United States v. Vonn", 535 U.S. 55 (2002). The Court of Appeals applied a two part test to determine whether plain error had been committed. First, the defendant had to establish that the court's error was not "merely minor or technical." The court considered this satisfied by the inherently serious nature of a Rule 11 violation alone, because the rule was intended to ensure that a defendant's plea was made intelligently and knowingly. Second, the defendant had to establish that he did not understand the rights at issue when he entered his guilty plea. The court found that this second element was satisfied because Benitez' language barrier had prevented him from gaining a full understanding of his rights from only the written plea agreement and other comments made by the court.