# U ni te d S ta te s Co ur t of A pp ea ls For the Eig hth Circu it

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ _ No. 1 7- 24 99

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ _ Uni te d S ta te s o f Am eri ca
ll ll ll ll ll ll ll ll ll ll l Pla in ti

ff - App el le e

v.
Ran dy Rob ert Sm it h

ll ll ll ll ll ll ll ll ll ll l Defe nd

an t - Ap pe ll an t

__ __ __ __ __ __ App eal fro m

Uni te d S ta te s Di st ric t Co ur t fo r th e Weste rn Dis tri ct of M is so ur i - Kan sa s C it y

__ __ __ __ __ __ Su bm it te d: Feb ru ary 26 , 20 18 Fi le d: Marc h 2 , 20 18 [Un pu bl is he d]

__ __ __ __ __ __ Befo re GRUENDER, MURPHY, an d S HEPHERD, Circ ui t J ud ge s.

__ __ __ __ __ __ PER CURI AM.

Ran dy Sm it h di rect ly appe al s th e wit hi n- Gui de li ne s- ran ge se nt en ce th e di st ric t

co ur t i mp o s e d a f

t er he pl ed gu il ty t o be in g a fel on in po ss es si on of a fir earm

. His 1

Th e Hon or ab le Bet h Ph il li ps , Uni te d St at es Dis tri ct Ju dg e fo r th e W es te r n 1 Dis tri ct of M is so ur i.co un se l ha s m ov ed fo r le av e to wit hd raw, an d ha s fil ed a br ie f un de r And ers v.

Cal ifo rn ia , 38 6 U.S. 73 8 (1 96 7) , arg ui ng th at th e se nt en c e is su bs ta nt iv el y
un reas on ab le , th at th e di st ric t co ur t erre d in ap pl y in g a se nt en ci ng en ha nc em en t, an d th at t h e di st ric t co ur t erre d by no t pr op erl y co ns id eri ng Sm it h’s req ue st fo r a do wnwar d de pa rtu re

. In a pr o se br ie f, Sm it h al so ch al le ng es th e se nt en ci ng
en ha nc em en t, an d c la im s t ha t h e rec ei ve d i ne ffec ti ve ass is ta nc e o f co un se l.

To be gi n, we de cl in e to co ns id er Sm it h’s in effe ct iv e-as si st an ce-o f

- c o u ns el cl ai m on di rect ap pe al

. S e e Uni te d St at es v. Ram ire z-Her na nd ez, 44 9 F.3 d 82 4, 82 6- 27 (8 th Ci r. 20 06 ) (in e f f e ct iv e-as si st an ce cl ai m s are us ua ll y be st li ti ga te d in

co ll at eral pro ceed in gs , wher e rec or d c an be pro pe rly dev el op ed ).

Nex t, we fin d no e r r o r i n th e di st ric t co ur t’s cal cu la ti on of th e Gui de li ne s
ran ge

. S e e U n i t e d St at es v. Turn er, 78 1 F.3 d 37 4, 39 3 (8 th Ci r. 20 15 ) (th is co ur t

rev ie ws di st ric t co ur t’s ap pl ic at io n of Gui de li ne s de no vo , an d it s fin di ng s of fact fo r cl ea r e r r o r )

. W e al so co nc lu de th at th e reco rd de m on st rat es th e di st ric t co ur t

co ns id ered Sm it h’s req ue st fo r a do wnwar d de pa rtu re, an d we fin d th at th e co u r t ’s de ci si on no t to de pa rt do wnwar d is un rev ie wab le on ap pe al

. S e e U ni te d St at es v. W an na , 74 4 F.3 d 58 4, 58 9 (8 th Ci r. 20 14 ) (wh en di st ric t co ur t is aware of di sc ret io n to de pa rt do wnwar d un de r Gui de li ne s an d el ect s no t to ex e r c i se di sc ret io n, th en de ci si on is un rev ie wab le ).

Fu rth er, we co nc lu de th at th e di st ric t co ur t di d n o t i mpo se a su bs ta nt iv el y
un reas on ab le se nt en ce. See Uni te d St at es v. Feem st er, 57 2 F.3 d 45 5, 46 1 (8 th Ci r. 20 09 ) (en ba nc ) (d is cu ss in g ap pe ll at e rev i e w o f se nt en ci ng de ci si on s) ; se e al so Uni te d St at es v. Cal la way , 76 2 F.3 d 75 4, 7 6 0 (8 th Ci r. 20 14 ) (o n ap pe al , wit hi n- Gui de li ne s- ran ge se nt en ce m ay be pr es um ed re as ona ble ). In addi ti on , we ha ve in de pe nd en tl y rev ie wed th e reco rd un de r Pen so n v. Ohi o, 48 8 U.S. 75 (1 98 8) , an d

-2

-ha ve fo un d no no nf riv ol ou s is su es fo r ap pe al

. Acco rd in gl y , we g r a n t co un se l’s

m ot io n t o wi th dr aw, an d we a ffi rm

.

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