Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-95-06409/USCOURTS-ca10-95-06409-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Theodore J. Edgin
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

. FILED 

lJDiUd Stata Court of Appeala Tfllth Circuit 

AUG .. 91996 

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS PATRICKFISHER 

TENTH CIRCUIT Clerk 

PUBLISH 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

Plaintiff-Appellee, 

v. 

THEODORE J. EDGIN, also known as 

Theodore John Edgin, also known as 

Theodore Edgin, 

Defendant-Appellant, 

No. 95-6409 

Appeal from the United States District Court 

for the Western District of Oklahoma 

(D.C. No. CR-95-95-A) 

Submitted on the Briefs: 

William P. Earley, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 

for Defendant-Appellant. 

Patrick M. Ryan, United States Attorney, and Ted A. Richardson, Assistant 

United States Attorney, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for Plaintiff-Appellee. 

Before SEYMOUR, Chief Judge, KELLY and LUCERO, Circuit Judges. 

SEYMOUR, Chief Judge. 

Appellate Case: 95-6409 Document: 01019279002 Date Filed: 08/09/1996 Page: 1 
Theodore John Edgin pled guilty to using a telephone to communicate a 

threat in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 875(c), and was sentenced to a term of thirtyseven months imprisonment to be followed by thirty-six months of supervised 

release under special conditions. He appeals. We affirm in part, but we remand 

one of the special conditions of supervised release for further consideration by the 

district court. 1 

I. 

Mr. Edgin met Mischelle Heiser in 1982, and over the following thirteen 

years they had a tumultuous relationship. Mr. Edgin was often incarcerated, and 

when he was not he lived in Oklahoma while Ms. Heiser lived in North Dakota. 

Nevertheless, on December 8, 1988, Ms. Heiser gave birth to Jerrad Heiser, Mr. 

Edgin's son. Soon thereafter, Mr. Edgin was again incarcerated. When he was 

released in August 1989, he visited Ms. Heiser and Jerrad in North Dakota. Over 

the next four years, he visited them periodically. 

In February 1995, Ms. Heiser chose to end their relationship. Mr. Edgin 

was unwilling to accept this change, and escalated his contacts with Ms. Heiser. 

He repeatedly called her, mailed letters, and sent flowers. 

1 After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has 

determined unanimously to honor the parties' request for a decision on the 

briefs without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(f); lOth Cir. R. 

34.1. 9. Therefore the case is ordered submitted without oral argument. 

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Jerrad did not know that Mr. Edgin was his father until Mr. Edgin told him 

in a March 1995 telephone conversation. Ms. Heiser was upset by this, and 

sought to keep Mr. Edgin away. In response, Mr. Edgin told her he would 

establish his rights to visitation in court and seek to have his name added to 

Jerrad's birth certificate. 2 

Around this time, Ms. Heiser started a relationship with a co-worker, Mr. 

Highman. In the spring of 1995, Mr. Edgin called and wrote Mr. Highman to ask 

him to respect Mr. Edgin's relationships with Ms. Heiser and Jerrad. At some 

point, Mr. Highman responded by thanking Mr. Edgin for leaving a bathrobe at 

Ms. Heiser's residence, as it came in handy when he got out of bed. Mr. Highman 

then told J errad that Mr. Edgin did not want to be his father anymore and would 

not visit him again. 

On the night of May 4, upset by Mr. Highman and drunk, Mr. Edgin called 

Mr. Highman's residence in North Dakota from his own home in Shawnee, 

Oklahoma. Although Mr. Highman hung up on Mr. Edgin more than once, Mr. 

Edgin called back. Eventually, Mr. Edgin left a message on Mr. Highman's 

answering machine in which he threatened to hurt Mr. Highman in clear, forceful 

terms: 

2 Apparently Mr. Edgin has not legally established himself as 

J err ad's father, but Ms. Heiser told probation officers that Mr. Edgin is 

J err ad's father. The government does not suggest otherwise. 

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Appellate Case: 95-6409 Document: 01019279002 Date Filed: 08/09/1996 Page: 3 
I mean I'm gonna physically hurt you with my bare hands as 

badly as I possibly can. OK? You're fucking around with the 

most dangerous thing you can; a man's fami_ly. You're half my 

size. You sit on your ass all day in an air conditioned office. I 

do a man's work 11 hours a day. I went to the penitentiary for 

beating the shit out of cops. You're not going to be able to wipe 

your own ass when I get done with you. . . . If you go anywhere 

near Shelly or Jerrad, ever again in your life, you're, you, you 

know, God himself won't be able to get me off you. I'm gonna 

bust some jaws. I'm gonna bust some fingers. I'm going to bust 

some arms .... God himself cannot keep me off you; and I am 

gonna physically hurt your sawed-off Yankee ass as bad as I 

possible can. 

PSR at~ 10. Some eleven days later, Mr. Edgin again called Mr. Highman and 

discussed these threats. 

Mr. Edgin was indicted for one count of making a threat via an interstate 

telephone communication. He was arrested, and released on bond. Although a 

condition of his release was that he not contact Ms. Heiser, Mr. Highman or 

Jerrad, Mr. Edgin nevertheless wrote many letters to Ms. Heiser in which he 

repeatedly professed his love for her and his desire to work out their differences. 

Mr. Edgin entered a guilty plea. The court sentenced him to a term of 

imprisonment of thirty-seven months, followed by three years of supervised 

release. As special conditions of release, the court ordered that Mr. Edgin not 

communicate with or travel to the state of residence of Ms. Heiser, Jerrad, or Mr. 

Highman. 

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Appellate Case: 95-6409 Document: 01019279002 Date Filed: 08/09/1996 Page: 4 
II. 

Mr. Edgin attacks his sentence on three grounds. First, he maintains the 

court erred in denying him a reduction under the Sentencing Guidelines for an 

offense involving "a single instance evidencing little or no deliberation." 

U.S.S.G. § 2A6.1(b)(2). Second, he contends the court erred in declining to 

reduce his sentence for acceptance of responsibility pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3E 1.1. 

Third, he maintains the court erred in imposing a special condition of release 

which prevents him from contact with his son. 

We review the court's evidentiary determinations at a sentencing hearing 

for clear error. United States v. Cruz, 58 F .3d 550, 553 (1Oth Cir. 1995). We 

review the guidelines' application de novo. !d. "Conditions of supervised 

release, as ordered by the district court, are reviewed for abuse of discretion." 

United States v. Pugliese, 960 F.2d 913, 915 (lOth Cir. 1992). 

A. 

We first consider Mr. Edgin's contention that the court erred in declining to 

reduce his sentence under U.S.S.G. § 2A6.1(b)(2), which provides for a four-point 

reduction in the base offense level "if the offense involved a single instance 

evidencing little or no deliberation." Although Mr. Edgin repeatedly called and 

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Appellate Case: 95-6409 Document: 01019279002 Date Filed: 08/09/1996 Page: 5 
wrote to Mr. Highman, he maintains he only threatened Mr. Highman during the 

May 4 telephone call. 

At the sentencing hearing, both the parole officer and Mr. Edgin testified 

about the May 15 telephone call to Mr. Highman. The parole officer testified that 

"Miss Heiser contacted the FBI for a second time on May 16th and told the 

Special Agent Louks that she had received four phone calls the night before from 

Mr. Edgin and that he had repeated the threats that he had made to ... Mr. 

Highman to her." !d. at 25. The parole officer understood Mr. Edgin had 

admitted to the FBI that he had made a second threatening phone call. Mr. Edgin 

said they "talked about the time that I'd left that message on his machine 

threatening to bust him up some." Rec., vol. II at 17. Questioned by his counsel 

as to whether he had made another threat in this second conversation, Mr. Edgin 

said, "I don't believe I did, no." !d. at 20. Questioned by the court, Mr. Edgin 

indicated that "I would feel bad if I did it, I didn't want to do it. I knew it wasn't 

the right thing to do but I'd tried everything else in the world, I tried writing him 

respectful letters, talking to him decently, and he just wants to keep going." !d. at 

18. The court prodded Mr. Edgin to explain his actions. Eventually, he said he 

"was trying to find a way to scare [Mr. Highman] off and keep him from telling 

[ J err ad] that kind of stuff again, it served no purpose other than to hurt my son's 

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Appellate Case: 95-6409 Document: 01019279002 Date Filed: 08/09/1996 Page: 6 
feelings." !d. at 19. In light of this evidence, the district court did not clearly err 

in finding that Mr. Edgin's threats occurred on more than a single instance. 3 

B. 

Mr. Edgin next contends the district court erred in declining to reduce his 

sentence for acceptance of responsibility pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3El.l. After Mr. 

Edgin pled guilty, he submitted a statement which concluded: "I accept 

responsibility for my actions. I know threatening someone over the telephone is 

wrong and in violation of the law." PSR at~ 14. 

Although a guilty plea "will constitute significant evidence of acceptance 

of responsibility," the application notes indicate that "this evidence may be 

outweighed by conduct ... that is inconsistent with such acceptance of 

responsibility." U.S.S.G. § 3El.1 (n.3). Indeed, the court found Mr. Edgin's 

repeated attempts to contact Ms. Heiser demonstrated that he "stubbornly refuses 

to accept responsibility for, what after all, is a course of conduct." Rec., vol. II at 

36. On appeal, Mr. Edgin counters that his contacts with Ms. Heiser are not 

relevant here because he never threatened her. However, the sentencing judge has 

3 Mr. Edgin's reliance on United States v. Pacione, 950 F.2d 1348 

(7th Cir. 1991 ), cert. denied, 505 U.S. 1229 ( 1992) and United States v. 

Sanders, 41 F.3d 480 (9th Cir. 1994), cert. denied, 115 S. Ct. 2010 (1995), 

is misplaced because both cases involved threats which occurred over the 

period of a few hours or less. 

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Appellate Case: 95-6409 Document: 01019279002 Date Filed: 08/09/1996 Page: 7 
a unique capacity to assess the defendant's demeanor as regards his acceptance of 

responsibility. See U.S.S.G. § 3El.l (n.5). "For this reason, the determination of 

a sentencing judge is entitled to great deference on review." !d. In light of Mr. 

Edgin's determined efforts to contact Ms. Heiser and the other evidence presented 

at the sentencing hearing, the district court did not clearly err in finding that Mr. 

Edgin had not accepted responsibility. 

c. 

Finally, Mr. Edgin challenges the district court's imposition of a special 

condition of supervised release preventing him from contacting his son. At the 

close of the sentencing hearing, the court ruled "first, during supervised release 

Mr. Edgin may not have any communication in any form whatsoever, letter, 

telephone call, personally-delivered note, personal visit, visit through 

intermediary or any other form whatsoever, with Miss Heiser, with Jerrad Heiser, 

or with Mr. Highman." Rec., vol. II at 47. Second, the court barred Mr. Edgin 

from traveling to the state in which either Ms. Heiser or Jerrad resides. !d. Mr. 

Edgin contends the court did not have the statutory authority to impose these 

conditions with respect to Jarrad. 

In most cases, a court may impose a term of supervised release after a term 

of imprisonment. 18 U.S.C. § 3583(a). A court enjoys broad discretion in setting 

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Appellate Case: 95-6409 Document: 01019279002 Date Filed: 08/09/1996 Page: 8 
a condition of supervised release, see United States v. Pendergast, 979 F .2d 1289, 

1292 (8th Cir. 1992); United States v. Showalter, 933 F .2d 573, 574 (7th Cir. 

1991 ), but such a term must meet three requirements: 

The court may order, as a further condition of supervised release, to the 

extent that such condition--

(1) is reasonably related to the factors set forth in section 3553(a)(l), 

(a)(2)(B), (a)(2)(C), and (a)(2)(D); 

(2) involves no greater deprivation of liberty than is reasonably 

necessary for the purposes set forth in section 3553(a)(2)(B), (a)(2)(C), and 

(a)(2)(D); and 

(3) is consistent with any pertinent policy statements issued by the 

Sentencing Commission pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 994(a); 

any condition ... it considers to be appropriate. 

18 U.S.C. 3583(d). 

Under this statutory scheme, a condition of supervised release must be 

reasonably related to "the nature and circumstances of the offense and the history 

and characteristics ofthe defendant." 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(l). Moreover, the 

condition must involve no greater deprivation of liberty than is reasonably 

necessary given the needs "to afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct," id. 

§ 3553(a)(2)(B), "to protect the public from further crimes of the defendant," id. 

§ 3553(a)(2)(C), and "to provide the defendant with needed educational or 

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Appellate Case: 95-6409 Document: 01019279002 Date Filed: 08/09/1996 Page: 9 
vocational training, medical care, or other correctional treatment in the most 

effective manner," id. § 3553(a)(2)(D). 4 

Mr. Edgin raises the argument regarding his son for the first time on 

appeal. However, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure require that "[a]t the 

sentencing hearing, a court must afford counsel for the defendant and for the 

Government an opportunity to comment on the probation officer's determinations 

and on other matters relating to the appropriate sentence .... " Fed. R. Crim. P. 

32( c )(1 ). The court imposed the special condition after it had resolved all the 

objections to the presentence report and had permitted Mr. Edgin to make a final 

statement. Mr. Edgin was afforded no notice of or opportunity to comment on the 

special condition. Under these circumstances, Mr. Edgin's attack on the special 

condition was not waived by his failure to assert it below. See United States v. 

Esqueda-Mareno, 56 F .3d 578, 580 (5th Cir.) ("[A] Rule 32 violation may be 

addressed for the first time on appeal .... "), cert. denied, 116 S. Ct. 348 (1995). 

See also Burns v. United States, 501 U.S. 129, 134 (1991) ("Federal Rule of 

Criminal Procedure 32 provides for focused, adversarial development of the 

factual and legal issues relevant to determining the appropriate Guidelines 

sentence."). 

4 The sentencing guidelines echo the statute, see U.S.S.G. § 5D1.3(b), and 

add: "Recommended conditions of supervised release are set forth in § 5B 1.4," 

id. 

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Indeed, the district court imposed the special condition at issue here at the 

close of the sentencing hearing without making factual findings or providing any 

reasons in support. As we have previously stated, "the district court must make a 

generalized statement of its reasoning for imposing a particular sentence so that 

appellate review does not flounder in the 'zone of speculation."' United States v. 

Slater, 971 F.2d 626, 633 (lOth Cir. 1992)(quoting United States v. Underwood, 

938 F.2d 1086, 1091-92 (lOth Cir. 1991)). See also 18 U.S.C. § 3553(c) ("The 

court, at the time of sentencing, shall state in open court the reasons for its 

imposition of the particular sentence .... "); United States v. Zackson, 6 F .3d 

911, 923 (2d Cir. 1993) ("Zackson' s claim of abuse of discretion cannot be 

properly reviewed without some statement in the record which reveals the 

justification for the imposition of the particular sentence."). 

Accordingly, we remand the case for the district court to state its reasoning 

for imposing the special conditions of supervised release on Mr. Edgin. In so 

doing, we reiterate that section 3583(d)(2) requires conditions restricting a 

defendant's liberty to be especially fine-tuned to achieve the goals set forth in 

section 3553(a)(2)(B), (C) and (D). 5 The special condition regarding Mr. Edgin's 

5

While section 35 83( d)(l) requires only that a condition of supervised 

release be "reasonably related" to certain ends, section 3583(d)(2) requires more: 

that the deprivation of liberty be "reasonably necessary" to deter Mr. Edgin from 

further criminal conduct, protect the public, or provide Mr. Edgin with 

educational training or medical care. Compare 18 U.S.C. § 3583(d)(2) with Porth 

v. Templar, 453 F .2d 330, 333 (1Oth Cir. 1971) ("The only limitation [on terms of 

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son implicates Mr. Edgin's liberty. As a general matter, a father has a 

fundamental liberty interest in maintaining his familial relationship with his son. 

See Quilloin v. Walcott, 434 U.S. 246, 255 (1978). We "have, in the Fourteenth 

Amendment context, recognized that the relationship between parent and child is 

constitutionally protected." Wise v. Bravo, 666 F.2d 1328, 1331 (lOth Cir. 1981); 

see also id. at 1336-37 (Seymour, J., concurring) (relating cases recognizing the 

"right to a relationship with one's child"). Unwed fathers' relationships are 

protected because of "a practical recognition that biology and association can 

together establish a relationship between father and child that may be essential to 

the happiness of both, even if the formality of marriage is missing." Pena v. 

Mattox, _ F .3d_, 1996 WL 269989, *6 (7th Cir. 1996). However, a lack of 

support for or relationship with the child is relevant to the weightiness of the 

unwed father's liberty interest. See generally id. 

Mr. Edgin has not appealed the special conditions which prevent him from 

contact with Ms. Heiser or Mr. Highman. These terms of supervised release may 

suffice to deter further criminal conduct by Mr. Edgin directed at Ms. Heiser and 

Mr. Highman without a total prohibition on his contact with his son. 6 On remand, 

probation] is that the conditions have a reasonable relationship to the treatment of 

the accused and the protection of the public."). 

6 Although § 3583 does not directly contemplate Jerrad Heiser's interests, 

the terms of supervised release would prevent him from any contact with his 

father. Of course, state courts possess the jurisdiction and expertise to address 

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the district court is free to consider "fine tuning" the supervised-release 

conditions so that Mr. Edgin may not use contacts with his son to harass Ms. 

Heiser and Mr. Highman. 

We REMAND to the district court for further findings. 

these concerns, and Mr. Edgin's sentencing would in no way bar Mr. Edgin and 

Ms. Heiser from seeking to resolve their respective rights and Jerrad Heiser's 

interests. 

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Appellate Case: 95-6409 Document: 01019279002 Date Filed: 08/09/1996 Page: 13 
No. 95-6409, United States v. Theodore J. Edgin. 

Kelly, Circuit Judge, concurring. 

I concur in the court's opinion, with the exception of the discussion 

concerning a constitutional liberty interest. There is no need to reach this issue 

even as "a general matter" because the statute, 18 U.S.C. § 3583(d)(2), limits the 

extent of any deprivation of liberty. At this point, we lack sufficient facts to 

decide whether Mr. Edgin has a constitutional liberty interest in his relationship 

with the child. I note that in both Quilloin v. Walcott, 434 U.S. 246, 254-56 

(1978), and Pena v. Mattox, 84 F.3d 894, 899 (7th Cir. 1996), the biological 

fathers were unsuccessful in gaining relief on constitutional claims. In this case, 

any constitutional liberty interest would have to be balanced against the 

government's right to restrict the liberty of a convicted person such as Mr. Edgin, 

whether it be for punitive, deterrence or rehabilitative purposes. 

Appellate Case: 95-6409 Document: 01019279002 Date Filed: 08/09/1996 Page: 14