Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-04-02547/USCOURTS-ca8-04-02547-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Randy Steven Boose
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

1

The Honorable Linda R. Reade, United States District Judge for the Northern

District of Iowa.

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 04-2547

___________

United States of America, *

*

Appellee, *

* Appeal from the United

v. * States District Court for the

* Northern District of Iowa.

Randy Steven Boose, *

*

Appellant. *

___________

Submitted: December 14, 2004

Filed: April 13, 2005

___________

Before MORRIS SHEPPARD ARNOLD, BEAM, and RILEY, Circuit Judges.

___________

PER CURIAM.

Randy Boose pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute 500 grams

or more of methamphetamine, having previously been convicted of one or more

felony drug offenses, see 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A), 846, 851. The district

court1

 then sentenced him to 270 months in prison. He argues that the district court

failed to give him his right to allocution before sentencing him.

Appellate Case: 04-2547 Page: 1 Date Filed: 04/13/2005 Entry ID: 1890333
-2-

Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32(i)(4)(A)(ii) states that "[b]efore

imposing sentence, the court must ... address the defendant personally in order to

permit the defendant to speak or present any information to mitigate the sentence."

Mr. Boose relies on United States v. Patterson, 128 F.3d 1259, 1261 (8th Cir. 1997),

for the principle that denying a defendant the right to allocution warrants reversal.

But the difficulty with Mr. Boose's argument is that he was not denied his right to

allocution. Although the court indicated its intention to impose a 270-month

sentence, no sentence was imposed until after giving Mr. Boose the opportunity to

speak:

THE COURT: All right. Mr. Boose, I'll be happy to hear from you as

to what you feel you'd like to say. You're not required to speak, but I'm

certainly willing to listen.

THE DEFENDANT: No, ma'am.

The court did not state that Mr. Boose's comments would have no effect, but

assured him that it would listen to what he had to say. Mr. Boose declined the offer.

The district judge then imposed Mr. Boose's sentence, stating that "it is the judgment

of this court that Randy Boose is hereby committed to the custody of the Bureau of

Prisons ... for 270 months." Cf. United States v. Williams, 109 F.3d 502, 513 (8th Cir.

1997), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 917 (1997). For the reasons stated, we affirm the

district court's judgment.

______________________________

Appellate Case: 04-2547 Page: 2 Date Filed: 04/13/2005 Entry ID: 1890333