Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-azd-3_13-cv-08149/USCOURTS-azd-3_13-cv-08149-2/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 510
Nature of Suit: Prisoner Petitions - Vacate Sentence
Cause of Action: 28:2255 Motion to Vacate / Correct Illegal Sentence

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WO 

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 

Branden Pete, 

Petitioner, 

 v. 

United States of America, 

Respondent.

No. CV 13-8149-PCT-RCB (DKD)

 CR 03-0355-PCT-RCB 

 O R D E R 

 Pending before the court is an amended “Motion to Vacate, Set Aside, or Correct 

Sentence by a Person in Federal Custody (28 U.S.C. § 2255)” filed by petitioner 

Branden Pete, pro se, who is confined in the U.S. Penitentiary in Florence, Colorado 

(Doc. 7). The petitioner is seeking to be resentenced in light of Miller v. Alabama, 567 

U.S. ----, 132 S.Ct. 2455, 183 L.Ed.2d 407 (2012), wherein the Court held “that the 

Eighth Amendment forbids a sentencing scheme that mandates life in prison without 

possibility of parole for juvenile offenders.” Id. at ----, 132 S.Ct. at 2469 (citation 

omitted). The United States does not oppose this motion. See Resp. (Doc. 11) at 6:6-8. 

Accordingly, as set forth below, the court hereby GRANTS the petitioner’s amended 

motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. 

Prior Proceedings 

 The petitioner was convicted by a jury of second degree murder, a lesser included 

offense of first degree murder, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1153 and 1111, as charged in 

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count one of the superseding indictment; felony murder in the course of a kidnapping in 

violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1153 and 1201(a)(2), as charged in count two of the 

superseding indictment; felony murder in the course of aggravated sexual abuse in 

violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1153, 1111, and 2241(a)(1), as charged in count four of the 

superseding indictment; and conspiracy to commit murder in violation of 18 U.S.C. 

§ 1117, as charged in count seven of the superseding indictment (Doc. 302). At the time 

of the offenses, the petitioner was a juvenile; he was 16 years old. On April 17, 2006, 

this court sentenced him to concurrent life terms on each of those counts, followed by 

five years on supervised release. Id. On June 10, 2008, the Ninth Circuit mandate 

issued, which affirmed the petitioner’s conviction and sentences (Doc. 329); and on 

October 6, 2008, the Supreme Court denied certiorari, Pete v. U.S., 555 U.S. 926, 129 

S.Ct. 298, 172 L.Ed.2d 218 (2008). 

Amended § 2255 Motion

 In his amended § 2255 motion, the petitioner alleges one ground for relief. The 

petitioner was 16 years old at the time of the offenses. At the petitioner’s sentencing, this 

court was statutorily mandated by 18 U.S.C. § 1111 to impose a sentence of life in prison 

without possibility of parole. The Supreme Court in Miller, 132 S.Ct. 2455, held that 

juvenile homicide offenders could not be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of 

parole without being afforded an opportunity to present mitigating evidence to support a 

sentence less than life without parole. “The Court explained that ‘[m]andatory life 

without [the possibility of] parole for a juvenile precludes consideration’ of the 

defendant's ‘chronological age and its hallmark features,’ the defendant's ‘family and 

home environment,’ the ‘circumstances of the [underlying] homicide offense,’ the fact 

that the offender ‘might have been charged and convicted of a lesser offense if not for 

incompetencies associated with youth,’ and ‘the possibility of rehabilitation.’” Bell v. 

Uribe, 729 F.3d 1052, 1063 (9th Cir. 2013) (quoting Miller, 132 S.Ct. at 2468). “The 

Court stated that the Eighth Amendment requires ‘judge or jury . . . to consider [such] 

mitigating circumstances before imposing the harshest penalty possible for juveniles.’” 

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Id. (quoting Miller, 132 S.Ct. at 2475). 

 The petitioner contends that Miller applies retroactively to his conviction, and thus 

the court should “[c]onduct a new hearing allowing him to present mitigating evidence in 

support of a sentence less tha[n] life without parole[.]” See Mot. (Doc. 7) at 6:7-8, ¶ 

16(b). The United States agrees that Miller applies retroactively, and it does not oppose 

the petitioner’s “request to be resentenced on an open record.” See Resp. (Doc. 11) at 

2:8-9 (citation omitted). 

Conclusion 

 In light of the foregoing, the court HEREBY ORDERS that: 

 (1) the reference to the Magistrate Judge (see Doc. 8) is WITHDRAWN; 

 (2) petitioner Branden Pete’s amended “Motion to Vacate, Set Aside, or Correct 

Sentence by a Person in Federal Custody (28 U.S.C. § 2255)” (Doc. 7 – CV-13-8149-

PCT-RCB(DKD) is GRANTED; 

(3) and because the petitioner is seeking the identical relief in United States v. 

Pete, (Doc. 337 - CR- 03-0355-PCT-RCB), that motion is GRANTED; 

 (4) petitioner Branden Pete shall be resentenced on Monday, the 3rd day of March, 

2014, at 10:00 a.m. in Courtroom 606, Sandra Day O'Connor United States Courthouse, 

401 West Washington, Phoenix, Arizona 85003. 

 DATED this 6th day of January, 2014. 

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