Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca8-06-02709/USCOURTS-ca8-06-02709-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Crystal Antoinette Harris
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

1

The Honorable Robert W. Pratt, Chief Judge, United States District Court for

the Southern District of Iowa.

United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT

___________

No. 06-2709

___________

United States of America, *

*

Appellee, *

* Appeal from the United States

v. * District Court for the Southern

* District of Iowa.

Crystal Antoinette Harris, *

* [UNPUBLISHED]

Appellant. *

___________

Submitted: April 10, 2007

Filed: April 16, 2007

___________

Before MELLOY, BOWMAN, and GRUENDER, Circuit Judges.

___________

PER CURIAM.

Crystal Harris entered a plea of guilty to four counts of distributing cocaine

base in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(C). The district court1

 sentenced

her to 151 months’ imprisonment and three years’ supervised release. She now

appeals, arguing she was entitled to be sentenced by the same judge who received her

plea. She also argues her advisory Guidelines range was based on clearly erroneous

factual findings, her sentence was impermissibly based on facts neither necessary for

the conviction nor found by a jury, her overall sentence was unreasonable, and her

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sentence was based on a grand jury’s special findings that the government had agreed

to strike from the indictment. We affirm.

I. Background

A grand jury returned a superseding indictment against Harris, finding probable

cause to believe she had distributed cocaine base on four different dates between

September 23 and October 10, 2002. The superseding indictment included special

findings by the grand jury alleging Harris had distributed between 500 grams and 1.5

kilograms of cocaine base. 

During pretrial proceedings and negotiations that led to a change of plea, the

Honorable Ronald E. Longstaff, United States District Judge for the Southern District

of Iowa, granted a motion in limine filed by Harris to exclude the testimony of two

witnesses, Jilisha Walton and Rosemary Christian. These witnesses would have

testified regarding prior drug sales by Harris. Harris also moved to strike the special

findings from the indictment. The government consented to the motion to strike, and

Judge Longstaff granted the motion. After these motion proceedings, Harris agreed

to plead guilty. The government agreed to recommend a sentence at the bottom of the

advisory Guidelines range.

On August 29, 2005, Judge Longstaff received Harris’s plea. In the colloquy

surrounding her plea, Harris admitted to selling a total of 7.8 grams of cocaine base

to a woman named Letisha Williams over the course of four separate transactions. At

the end of the hearing, when dealing with logistical matters such as the preparation of

a presentence report and scheduling for a sentencing hearing, Judge Longstaff notified

counsel another judge might preside over Harris’s sentencing. Counsel made no

objection at that time. Prior to sentencing, the case was transferred to the docket of

the Honorable Robert W. Pratt, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the

Southern District of Iowa. 

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In the presentence report, the probation officer attributed between 150 and 500

grams of cocaine base to Harris for a base offense level of thirty-four. The probation

officer recommended a two-level, aggravated role enhancement and a three-level

reduction for acceptance of responsibility, for a total offense level of thirty-three.

With a criminal history category of II, the resultant advisory range recommended in

the presentence report was 151 to 188 months’ imprisonment. Counsel for Harris

objected to the drug quantity and role enhancement recommendations, arguing they

were not supported by Harris’s admitted offense conduct.

Judge Pratt presided over Harris’s sentencing hearing on June 26, 2006, and

Harris made no objection to having Judge Pratt, rather than Judge Longstaff, conduct

the hearing. Harris did object to the presentation of evidence regarding drug quantity

and the aggravated role enhancement. At the hearing, Judge Pratt received an

affidavit from Jilisha Walton and heard testimony from witnesses, including Letisha

Williams. Counsel for Harris again objected to the presentation of any evidence

regarding drug quantity, offense conduct, or relevant conduct beyond the conduct

admitted by Harris in her plea hearing. Counsel for Harris elected not to crossexamine Jilisha Walton even though the government repeatedly noted Walton was

present and available to testify.

Williams and Walton were informants for the police. Williams testified she

purchased crack from Harris daily over an extended period of time. Williams did not

quote a specific quantity in terms of grams, but described her purchases in dollar

amounts, described the frequency of her purchases, and described her interactions with

Harris. Walton stated that Harris recruited her to help sell crack, Harris used her to

deliver crack on over twenty-five occasions, and Harris used her home to distribute

crack to two or three users per week. Taken together, Williams’s testimony and

Walton’s affidavit clearly demonstrated Harris had distributed at least 150 to 500

grams of cocaine base. This evidence also clearly demonstrated Harris exercised

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control over, directed, or supervised at least one other participant in the illegal

conduct.

Judge Pratt determined, based in large part on the information provided by

Williams and Walton, that Harris had distributed between 150 and 500 grams of

cocaine base and that Harris deserved the two-level, aggravating role enhancement

because she “was an organizer, leader, manager, or supervisor” in the criminal

activity. He found the advisory Guidelines range to be 151 to 188 months as

recommended in the report, considered the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors, and imposed

a sentence at the bottom of this range.

II. Discussion

On appeal, Harris argues that she was entitled to have Judge Longstaff preside

at her sentencing and that Judge Pratt was biased in favor of the government. This

argument is wholly without merit. There is no evidence Judge Pratt was biased in any

manner, and a defendant has no right to be sentenced by a particular judge. United

States v. Urben-Potratz, 470 F.3d 740, 744-45 (8th Cir. 2006). 

The remainder of Harris’s arguments fall into three categories. First, counsel

for Harris presents a series of arguments related generally to United States v. Booker,

543 U.S. 220 (2005). Second, counsel attacks Judge Pratt’s findings and the

procedure followed at the sentencing hearing. Finally, counsel alleges the government

breached an agreement with Harris by introducing at the sentencing hearing evidence

of offense conduct and relevant conduct beyond that admitted by Harris at her plea

hearing. 

Regarding the Booker-related arguments, counsel for Harris misconstrues the

procedural framework for sentencing post-Booker. It is now well established that the

court is to make factual findings necessary for advisory Guidelines calculations, these

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findings are to be made using the preponderance of the evidence standard, and the

sentencing court is to use the advisory Guidelines range as one of the sentencing

factors under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). United States v. Thundershield, 474 F.3d 503,

506-07 & n.7 (8th Cir. 2007) (applying preponderance standard in relation to an

obstruction of justice enhancement); United States v. No Neck, 472 F.3d 1048, 1055

(8th Cir. 2007) (noting after Booker that even “[a]cquitted conduct may be used for

sentencing purposes if proved by a preponderance of the evidence”); United States v.

Sandoval-Rodriguez, 452 F.3d 984, 990-91 (8th Cir. 2006) (explaining sentencing

procedure in accordance with the remedy set forth in Booker). Counsel for Harris

ignores the remedial provisions of the Court’s Booker opinion and all of our precedent

following Booker which establishes this framework. Counsel insists, instead, that

Booker requires a jury to make all findings relevant to the Guidelines. Because we

have repeatedly addressed this basic misconception and consistently rejected

arguments similar to those raised by counsel, we need not address all of counsel’s

related arguments individually.

Regarding the specific factual findings made by the sentencing judge, our

review is for clear error. Thundershield, 474 F.3d at 507. As already noted, there was

more than adequate support for the findings related to the drug quantity and the role

enhancement. Harris argues that reliance on Walton’s affidavit to make sentencing

findings violated her confrontation rights. This argument fails because Walton was

available for cross-examination, and counsel for Harris simply chose not to examine

her. Also, Judge Pratt considered the appropriate factors under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a),

and we find the overall sentence imposed to be reasonable. Although counsel cites

one passage from the sentencing transcript in which Judge Pratt appeared to refer to

the Guidelines as mandatory, Judge Pratt subsequently clarified his view, clearly

acknowledged the advisory nature of the Guidelines, and noted his consideration of

the sentencing factors.

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Finally, counsel appears to argue that when the government agreed to strike the

special findings from the indictment, the government necessarily agreed that any and

all conduct other than that admitted by Harris at the plea hearing would not and could

not be used for sentencing purposes. Even if the government had the authority to so

limit what a sentencing court may consider in making necessary findings under the

Guidelines, there is simply no evidence of such an agreement in the present case.

Harris admitted in her plea hearing that the only promise she received from the

government was a promise to recommend a sentence at the bottom of the Guidelines

range. Further, the special findings from the grand jury were of a drug quantity

between 500 grams and 1.5 kilograms, whereas Harris’s sentence was based on a drug

quantity finding of 150 to 500 grams. Accordingly, even if there were any merit to

counsel’s argument, the resultant sentence in this case was not based in any manner

on the quantity set forth in the stricken grand jury findings.

We have considered the other arguments raised by Harris and find them to be

without merit.

The judgment of the district court is affirmed.

______________________________

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