Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-91-07018/USCOURTS-ca10-91-07018-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Jose Alberto Munoz
Appellant
United States of America
Appellee

Document Text:

PUBLISH 

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT 

FILED 

Uniim States ~prt ~! Appealu Tenth Ctrcu1 ... 

OCT 0 7 1991 

ROBERT L. HOECKER 

Clerk 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) 

vs. 

JOSE 

) 

Plaintiff-Appellee, ) 

) 

) No. 91-7018 

) 

ALBERTO MUNOZ, ) 

) 

Defendant-Appellant. ) 

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA 

(D.C. No. CR 90-046) 

Submitted on the briefs:* 

Mark Green of Green and Green, Muskogee, Oklahoma, for 

Defendant-Appellant. 

John Raley, United States Attorney, Sheldon J. Sperling, Assistant 

United States Attorney, Muskogee, Oklahoma, Richard A. Friedman, 

Attorney, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for 

Plaintiff-Appellee. 

Before BALDOCK and EBEL, Circuit Judges, and ANDERSON, District 

Judge.** 

BALDOCK, Circuit Judge. 

Defendant-appellant Jose Alberto Munoz pled guilty to one 

count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and to possess cocaine 

* The parties have waived oral argument pursuant to Fed. R. 

App. P. 34(f). The case therefore is ordered submitted without 

oral argument. 

** Honorable Aldon J. Anderson, Senior United States District 

Judge for the District of Utah, sitting by designation. 

Appellate Case: 91-7018 Document: 01019290941 Date Filed: 10/07/1991 Page: 1 
with intent to distribute, 18 U.S.C. § 846. The district court, 

applying the Sentencing Guidelines, sentenced defendant to 210 

months imprisonment. Defendant appeals, contending that the 

district court abused its discretion in refusing to grant the 

government's § 5Kl.l motion recommending a downward departure for 

substantial assistance. See U.S.S.G. § 5Kl.l (Nov. 1990). We 

dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. 

Section 5Kl.l provides that "[u]pon motion of the government 

stating that the defendant has made a good faith effort to provide 

substantial assistance in the investigation or prosecution of 

another person who has committed an offense, the court may depart 

from the guidelines." (emphasis supplied). This language clearly 

states that the district court's decision to depart is 

discretionary, and we repeatedly have held that we do not have 

jurisdiction to review a district court's discretionary refusal to 

depart downward from the guidelines. See~' United States v. 

Soto, 918 F.2d 882, 883 (lOth Cir. 1990); United States v. Davis, 

900 F.2d 1524, 1528-30 (lOth Cir.), cert. denied, 111 S. Ct. 155 

(1990). The government's § 5Kl.l motion recommending downward 

departure does not alter this jurisdictional rule, for the 

ultimate decision of whether to depart rests in the sound 

discretion of the district court. See United States v. 

Richardson, 939 F.2d 135, 139-140 (4th Cir. 1991) (§ 5Kl.l 

substantial assistance departure is discretionary); United States 

v. Darner, 910 F.2d 1239, 1240-41 (5th Cir.) (per curium) (same), 

cert. denied, 111 S. Ct. 535 (1990). See also United States v. 

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Appellate Case: 91-7018 Document: 01019290941 Date Filed: 10/07/1991 Page: 2 
Hayes, 939 F.2d 509, 511-13 (7th Cir. 1991) (interpreting 18 

u.s.c. § 3553(e), citing Darner). 

Pursuant to 18 u.s.c. § 3742, we may review a sentence which 

is (1) imposed in violation of law, (2) based on an incorrect 

application of the Guidelines, (3) imposed outside the applicable 

guideline range and plainly unreasonable or (4) imposed for an 

offense which is not addressed by the guidelines and plainly 

unreasonable. Defendant does not seek review under any of these 

jurisdictional bases. Instead, he urges us to review for an abuse 

of discretion the district court's refusal to depart downward. 

Because we lack jurisdiction to engage in this type of review, we 

must dismiss the appeal. 

SO ORDERED. 

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Appellate Case: 91-7018 Document: 01019290941 Date Filed: 10/07/1991 Page: 3