Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-04-01461/USCOURTS-ca8-04-01461-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
James William Rogers
Appellee
United States of America
Appellant

Document Text:

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 04-1461

___________

United States of America, *

*

Appellant, * Appeal from the United States

* District Court for the Western 

v. * District of Missouri. 

*

James William Rogers, *

*

Appellee. *

___________

Submitted: December 16, 2004

Filed: March 16, 2005

___________

Before MELLOY, BOWMAN, and BENTON, Circuit Judges.

___________

BENTON, Circuit Judge.

The district court granted James William Rogers's motion for a downward

departure under U.S.S.G § 5K2.0, after he pled guilty to being a felon in possession

of a firearm, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). The United States appeals, claiming an absence

of extraordinary or atypical rehabilitation. Jurisdiction being proper under 18 U.S.C.

§ 3742(b) and 28 U.S.C. § 1291, this court reverses and remands. 

Eight months after Rogers was paroled on a state felony drug charge, a

conservation agent found him in possession of a rifle after he had been deer hunting.

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Despite Rogers's pleas, the agent confiscated the rifle and contacted the parole

officer. 

The pre-sentence report assigned a total offense level 17 and criminal history

category VI, resulting in a sentence range of 51 to 63 months. Rogers moved for a

downward departure based on extraordinary post-offense rehabilitation. At

sentencing, he presented 13 letters from friends and family stating that he had turned

his life around by caring for his dying father, rebuilding his fiancee's home (which the

insurance company paid him to do), and remaining drug-free for four years (including

completion of drug-rehabilitation and group-therapy programs). A petition signed by

186 persons recited that Rogers "has changed his life," and asked for leniency in

sentencing. The district court granted Rogers's motion, imposing five years

probation. 

After an adjustment – per the plea agreement – under U.S.S.G § 3E1.1 for

acceptance of responsibility, the district court based its departure on U.S.S.G § 5K2.0,

extraordinary rehabilitation. The government appeals. 

While this appeal was pending, the Supreme Court held that the Federal

Sentencing Guidelines are no longer mandatory. United States v. Booker, 125 S.Ct.

738, 756-57 (2005). The guideline range "no longer dictates the final sentencing

result but instead is an important factor that the sentencing court is to consider along

with the factors contained in § 3553(a) in reaching the sentencing result." United

States v. Rodriguez, 2005 WL 272952, at *9 (11th Cir. Feb. 4, 2005), citing Booker,

125 S.Ct. at 764-65. A sentencing court must consider the Guidelines, determine the

applicable range, but may depart from the suggested Guideline range. United States

v. Mares, 2005 WL 503715, at *7 (5th Cir. Mar. 4, 2005). Sentences are reviewed

for unreasonableness. Booker, 125 S.Ct. at 765-66. The standard guiding

unreasonableness is 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). Id.

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A departure under section 5K2.0 is proper where a district court finds "an

aggravating or mitigating circumstance of a kind, or to a degree, not adequately taken

into consideration by the Sentencing Commission." 18 U.S.C. § 3553(b), see also

U.S.S.G § 5K2.0(a)(3). Because the Commission accounted for ordinary

post-offense rehabilitation under section 3E1.1, a defendant's rehabilitation must be

exceptional enough to be atypical. See § 5K2.0(d)(2), United States v. DeShon, 183

F.3d 888, 889 (8th Cir. 1999). The district court must explain any extraordinary or

atypical factors justifying departure. § 5K2.0(e), citing 18 U.S.C. § 3553(c)(2).

The facts in this case do not show extraordinary or atypical rehabilitation

justifying a downward departure. Rogers's reuniting with family and remaining

drug-free, while commendable, are not extraordinary or atypical. See United States

v. Patterson 315 F.3d 1044, 1049 (8th Cir. 2003). In the absence of extraordinary or

atypical post-offense rehabilitation, the departure was impermissible. However,

because the Guidelines are not mandatory, the sentence is reviewed for

unreasonableness. 

The sentence is unreasonable when measured against the factors of

reasonableness set forth in section 3553(a). The possessing-rifle-after-hunting is

Rogers's second parole violation in eight months. Earlier, Rogers was found

trespassing in a restricted area at Truman Dam, while two men – also on probation for

manufacturing a controlled substance – fished nearby with his son in a no-fishing

area. Trespassing with felons does not demonstrate respect for the law. See 18

U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2)(A). 

Rogers's second parole violation illustrates that parole/probation is not

adequate deterrence. See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2)(B). He understood the terms of

parole, yet knowingly possessed the rifle. Moreover, as the violations show,

probation would not protect the public from criminal conduct. See 18 U.S.C. §

3553(a)(2)(C).

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The sentence of probation does not adequately address the history and

characteristics of the defendant. See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(1). Aside from (admitted)

use of marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine, Rogers has convictions for assault,

stealing, resisting arrest, attempting to manufacture methamphetamine, and

trespassing. While the district court was not bound to the suggested range of 51 to

63 months imprisonment, probation is unreasonable. 

The sentence of probation does not properly consider Congress's desire to

avoid unwarranted sentencing disparities. See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(6). It is

unreasonable to expect that defendants with similar records, guilty of similar conduct,

would receive probation. 

By the factors in section 3553(a), the district court's sentence was

unreasonable. The judgment is VACATED and REMANDED for re-sentencing.

______________________________

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