FI L ED
U.S. COURT OF APPEAL S

EL EVENTH CI RCUI T MAY 29, 2009

THOMAS K. KAH

N
CL ERK [ D O N O T P U B L I S H ]

I N T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S C O U R T O F A P P E A L S

F O R T H E E L E V E N T H C I R C U I T

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N o

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- 1 2 3 7 4

N o n

- A r g u m e n t C a l e n d a r

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. D o c k e t N o

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v e r s u s

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_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

A p p e a l f r o m t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s D i s t r i c t C o u r t
f o r t h e S o u t h e r n D i s t r i c t o f F l o r i d a

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

( M a y 2 9

, 2 0 0 9 )

B e f o r e E D M O N D S O N

, C h i e f J u d g e , T J O F L A T a n d D U B I N A

, C i r c u i t J u d g e s

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P E R C U R I A M :J o h n n y L e e M o r r i s , J r

. , a f e d e r a l p r i s o n e r p r o c e e d i n g p r o s e , a p p e a l s t h e

d e n i a l o f h i s 1 8 U

. S

. C

. § 3 5 8 2 ( c ) ( 2 ) m o t i o n t o r e d u c e h i s s e n t e n c e b a s e d o n

A m e n d m e n t s 5 9 1 a n d 5 9 9 t o t h e S e n t e n c i n g G u i d e l i n e s

. N o r e v e r s i b l e e r r o r h a s

b e e n s h o w n ; w e a f

f i r m

.

I n h i s s e c t i o n 3 5 8 2 ( c ) ( 2 ) m o t i o n , M o r r i s

- - w h o , i n 2 0 0 5

, w a s s e n t e n c e d t o a

t o t a l o f 1 3 0 m o n t h s ’ i m p r i s o n m e n t f o r b a n k r o b b e r y a n d f

i r e a r m o f f e n s e s

- - a r g u e d

t h a t A m e n d m e n t s 5 9 1 a n d 5 9 9 l o w e r e d h i s s e n t e n c i n g r a n g e a n d t h a t t h e d i s t r i c t

c o u r t f a i l e d t o a p p l y e i t h e r a m e n d m e n t a t h i s o r i g i n a l s e n t e n c i n g

. T h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t

d e n i e d M o r r i s ’ s m o t i o n b e c a u s e A m e n d m e n t s 5 9 1 a n d 5 9 9 t o o k e f f e c t b e f o r e h i s

s e n t e n c i n g

.

O n a p p e a l

, M o r r i s a r g u e s t h a t t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t a b u s e d i t s d i s c r e t i o n i n

d e n y i n g h i s s e c t i o n 3 5 8 2 ( c ) ( 2 ) m o t i o n b y n o t a p p l y i n g A m e n d m e n t s 5 9 1 a n d 5 9 9

t o h i s c a s e a n d b y f

a i l i n g t o c o n s i d e r t h e s e n t e n c i n g f a c t o r s i n 1 8 U

. S

. C

. § 3 5 5 3 ( a )

.

W e r e v i e w t h e d e n i a l o f a s e c t i o n 3 5 8 2 ( c ) ( 2 ) m o t i o n f o r a n a b u s e o f d i s c r e t i o n

.

U n i t e d S t a t e s v

. M o r e n o , 4 2 1 F

. 3 d 1 2 1 7

, 1 2 1 9 ( 1 1 t h C i r

. 2 0 0 5 )

.

A d i s t r i c t c o u r t m a y r e d u c e a t e r m o f i m p r i s o n m e n t a l r e a d y i m p o s e d o n l y i f

( 1 ) t h e d e f

e n d a n t w a s s e n t e n c e d t o a t e r m o f i m p r i s o n m e n t b a s e d o n a s e n t e n c i n g

r a n g e t h a t s u b s e q u e n t l y h a s b e e n l o w e r e d b y t h e S e n t e n c i n g C o m m i s s i o n a n d ( 2 )

s u c h a r e d u c t i o n i s c o n s i s t e n t w i t h t h e a p p l i c a b l e p o l i c y s t a t e m e n t s i s s u e d b y t h e

2C o m m i s s i o n

. 1 8 U

. S

. C

. § 3 5 8 2 ( c ) ( 2 )

. A c c o r d i n g t o t h e a p p l i c a b l e p o l i c y

s t a t e m e n t

, a d e f

e n d a n t i s e l i g i b l e f

o r r e t r o a c t i v e a p p l i c a t i o n o f a s u b s e q u e n t l y

e n a c t e d g u i d e l i n e a m e n d m e n t i f t h e a m e n d m e n t i s l i s t e d i n U

. S

. S

. G

. § 1 B 1

. 1 0 ( c )

.

U

. S

. S

. G

. § 1 B 1

. 1 0 ( a )

, p

. s

.

W h i l e b o t h A m e n d m e n t s 5 9 1 a n d 5 9 9 a r e l i s t e d a s a m e n d m e n t s c o v e r e d b y

t h e p o l i c y s t a t e m e n t a n d c a n b e a p p l i e d r e t r o a c t i v e l y , t h e s e a m e n d m e n t s t o o k

e f f e c t o n 1 N o v e m b e r 2 0 0 0 : y e a r s b e f o r e M o r r i s w a s s e n t e n c e d

. S e e U

. S

. S

. G

. ,

A p p

. C

. , A m e n d

. 6 0 7

. T h u s , t h e s e a m e n d m e n t s d i d n o t h a v e t h e e f f e c t o f

s u b s e q u e n t l y l o w e r i n g M o r r i s ’ s g u i d e l i n e s r a n g e a f t e r h i s s e n t e n c e w a s i m p o s e d

.

A c c o r d i n g l y , w e c o n c l u d e t h a t t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t a b u s e d n o d i s c r e t i o n i n d e n y i n g

M o r r i s ’ s s e c t i o n 3 5 8 2 ( c ) ( 2 ) m o t i o n b e c a u s e i t h a d n o b a s i s o n w h i c h t o r e d u c e

M o r r i s ’ s s e n t e n c e

. *

A F F I R M E D

.

We rejec t Morris’s ar g ument that he wa s entitled to a defa ult judgment bec ause the *

g overnme nt did not ti mely respond to his section 3582(c )(2) motion. The g overnme nt’s failure to respond by

the dea dline set out by

the district court did not requir e the district cour t to enter a defa ult judgment ag ainst the g overnme nt beca use the plea dings f

ailed to provide a

proper basis to gr ant Morris’s motion. See Nishimatsu Constr. Co., L td. v. Houston Nat’l B ank, 515 F .2d 1200, 1206 (5th Cir. 1975) (a party ’s def

ault by itself does not war

rant the e ntry

of a de fault judgme nt unless there is “a sufficie nt basis in the pleading s for the judg ment enter ed”)

.

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