2003 D e c i sion s O p inion s of the U nit e d S t at e s C our t of Appe al s for the Thir d C ir c uit
5-20-2003 

# U S A v . R ick P r e c e de n t i al or N on-P r e c e de n t i al : N on-P r e c e de n t i al D ocke t 02-2391

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w . v i l l a no va . e du/thir dc ir c uit_2003/547NOT PRE CEDENT IAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FO R T HE TH IRD CIR CU IT

No: 02-2391

_______________ UNITED S TATES OF AMERI CA

v. ROXANNE RI CK, Appellant
App eal from th e Un ited States District Co urt for the We stern D istrict of P enns ylvania (D.C. Crimi nal Acti on No. 00-cr- 00184) District J udge: Honorable W illi am L. Standish
Submitte d under Third Ci rcuit LAR 34.1(a) on March 7, 2003 Be for e: R OT H, B AR RY and FU EN TE S, Circuit Judges (Opinion fi led May 19, 2003 )2 O P I N I O N

RO TH , Circuit

Judge: Roxanne Rick pled gui lty to one count

of conspiring to di stribute Schedul e II and III c ontrol led subst ances in vi olati on of 21 U.S.C. § 846 and t o two counts of di stribution of various Schedule IIand III control led subst ances in vi olati on of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)( 1), 841( b)(1)( C) and 841(b)( 1)(D). Ri ck also ac cepted r esponsibi lit y for four other count s of dist

ribution. I n the ple a agreement, the part ies agr eed that

the quantity

of Schedule IIand III drugs attri butable to Rick re sult ed in a combined marijuana equival ent of 685.5 kil ograms. The parties also agr eed Rick’s of fense le vel shoul d be incre ased by two for R ick’s a buse of h er po sition. T he go vern men t agree d to a th ree-lev el redu ction in the offen se level for R ick’s acceptan ce of resp onsibility. Rick moved for a dow nwa rd departure o n the grou nds of d iminished ca pacity, coercion and d uress (later withdraw n), extraordinarypost-of

fense rehabi lit ation e fforts , extraordi nary familyresponsi bili ties , and a combinati on of these fa ctors . The District Court was not per suaded that Rick was entitl ed to a downw ard departure on any one of these grounds but nevertheless determined that, in combin ation, the groun ds urged for depa rture warran ted a dow nwa rd depa rture o f tw o leve ls. Rick wa s sente nced to 57 mo nths im prison men t. Rick ap peals on tw o groun ds: (1) the D istrict Court erred in den ying a dow nwa rd departure for Rick’ s post- offense rehabili tati on and (2) the District Court erred i n denyi ng3

a downward departure f or Rick’s familyresponsi bili ties under U.S.S. G. § 5H1.6. We have appellate juri sdiction pursua nt to 28 U.S. C. § 1291. We revie w a district court’ s decis ion concerning a departure fr om the Sentenci ng Guideline s for an abus e of disc retio n. See e.g. United Stat es v. Abuhouran , 161 F. 3d 206, 209 (3d Cir. 199 8) citing Un ited Sta tes v. Sa lly , 116 F . 3d 76 , 78 (3 d C ir. 1997 ). Ho we ver, “w e lack jurisdictio n to review a re fusal t o depart downward when the di stri ct court , knowing it may do so, nonethel ess det ermines t hat departure i s not warra nted. ” Un ited Sta tes v. M cQ uilkin , 97 F. 3d 72 3, 729 (3d Cir. 1996 ) citing United Stat es v. Denardi , 892 F. 2d 269, 272 (3d Cir. 1989). On both grounds of appeal , Rick ar gues that the Dist rict Court fai led to recognize its autho rity to depa rt dow nw ard fo r her p ost-of fens e reha bilitation a nd h er fam ily resp ons ibilitie s. First , regarding Rick’s post-of fense rehabi lit ation, the Dist rict Court expla ined that Rick’s participating in therapy , taking prescribed medication and abstaining from the use of alc oho l for ov er a year w ere ac tions th at we re no t extrao rdinar y enoug h to w arrant a downward departure. The Distri ct Court made a poi nt to expl ain on the record s everal examples of ext

raordi nary circumst ances that would warrant a downward departure. The Distri ct Court c oncluded that Rick’ s case di d not fit into t his category . We find that the Distri ct Court di d acknowledge it s discretion to depart downward but refused to do s o on the fact s of thi s case.4

Rick further argues that the District Court erred in st ating that Rick’s post -offense rehabil itat

ion did not

start unti l five weeks after he r guil ty plea. In findi ng that t he Distric t Cou rt exerc ised its d iscretion , we d o no t find th at the D istrict Co urt abu sed its discreti on in reviewing these facts. Secon d, regarding R ick’s family ties and respo nsibilities, the District Court explai ned that

it was bound byour holdi ng in United Stat es v. Sweet ing which dict ates that a downward departure for familyties and responsibili ties should be t he excepti on rath er th an th e ru le. Sweeting , 213 F. 3d 95,100 (3 d Cir. 200 0). Here, the D istrict Court went to great lengt

hs to poi nt out t

he factor s it

consider ed and why each fac tor shows t hat Rick ’s fam ily ties and re spon sibilities are not ex traord inary eno ugh to w arrant a dow nw ard d epartu re. W e find that the Distric t Cou rt did ac kno wled ge its dis cretion to depart downward but refused to do s o on the fact s of thi s case. For the for egoing rea sons, we fi nd that we l ack juri sdiction to r eview the Dist rict Co urt’s refu sals t o de par t fro m th e Se nten cing Gu ideli nes .5

/s/Jane R. R oth
TO THE C LERK: Please fi le the foregoing Opinion.
By the C ourt,

Circuit Judge