FI L ED U.S. COURT OF APPEAL S EL EVENTH CI RCUI T AUGUST 9, 2010 J OHN L EY 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

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
N o

. 0 8

- 1 5 3 8 2 N o n

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

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
D

. C

. D o c k e t N o

. 9 3

- 0 6 1 7 9

- C R

- U U B

U N I T E D S T A T E S O F A M E R I C A ,

P l a i n t i f f

- A p p e l l e e ,

v e r s u s

T H E R E S A B R O W N , a

. k

. a

. S h a r o n J o n e s , a

. k

. a

. V a l e r i e B o z e m a n , a

. k

. a

. B a m ,

D e f e n d a n t

- A p p e l l a n t

.

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

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ( A u g u s t 9 , 2 0 1 0 )

B e f o r e E D M O N D S O N , B L A C K a n d A N D E R S O N , C i r c u i t J u d g e s

.P E R C U R I A M :

T h e r e s a B r o w n , a f

e d e r a l p r i s o n e r c o n v i c t e d o f a c r a c k c o c a i n e o f f e n s e ,

a p p e a l s t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t ’ s d e n i a l o f h e r 1 8 U

. S

. C

. § 3 5 8 2 ( c ) ( 2 ) m o t i o n f o r a

r e d u c e d s e n t e n c e b a s e d o n A m e n d m e n t 7 0 6 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 1

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

.

T h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t d e t e r m i n e d t h a t B r o w n w a s u n e n t i t l e d t o a s e n t e n c e

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

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

. S e e 2 1 U

. S

. C

. § § 8 4 1 ( b ) ( 1 ) ( A ) ( i i i ) , 8 5 1

. W e r e v i e w d e n o v o t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t ’ s l e g a l c o n c l u s i o n s

a b o u t t h e s c o p e o f i t s a u t h o r i t y i n a s e c t i o n 3 5 8 2 ( c ) ( 2 ) p r o c e e d i n g

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

v

. J a m e s , 5 4 8 F

. 3 d 9 8 3 , 9 8 4 ( 1 1 t h C i r

. 2 0 0 8 )

.

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

d e f e n d a n t w h o 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 l a t e r 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

. 1 8 U

. S

. C

. § 3 5 8 2 ( c ) ( 2 )

. B u t a d e f e n d a n t w h o i n i t i a l l y w a s s e n t e n c e d

t o t h e s t a t u t o r y m i n i m u m i s i n e l i g i b l e f o r a r e d u c t i o n u n d e r A m e n d m e n t 7 0 6 a n d

s e c t i o n 3 5 8 2 ( c ) ( 2 )

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

. W i l l i a m s , 5 4 9 F

. 3 d 1 3 3 7 , 1 3 4 2 ( 1 1 t h C i r

.

Amendment 706 re troac tively reduc ed by

two the base offe nse leve ls in crac k coca ine 1
sentenc es ca lculated pur suant to the drug quantity table, U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(c ). U

. S

. S

. G

. A p p

. C , A m e n d

. 7 1 3 ( S u p p

. 1 M a y 2 0 0 8 )

.
22 0 0 8 ) ; s e e a l s o U

. S

. S

. G

. § 1 B 1

. 1 0 , c m t

. n

. 1 ( A ) ( n o t i n g t h a t “ t h e o p e r a t i o n o f

a n o t h e r g u i d e l i n e o r s t a t u t o r y p r o v i s i o n , ” s u c h a s “ a s t a t u t o r y m a n d a t o r y m i n i m u m

t e r m o f i m p r i s o n m e n t , ” w o u l d p r e v e n t A m e n d m e n t 7 0 6 f r o m “ h a v [ i n g ] t h e e f

f e c t

o f l o w e r i n g t h e d e f

e n d a n t ’ s a p p l i c a b l e g u i d e l i n e r a n g e ” )

. H e r e , t h e d i s t r i c t c o u r t

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

m i n i m u m l i f

e s e n t e n c e c a u s e d A m e n d m e n t 7 0 6 n o t t o h a v e t h e e f f e c t o f l o w e r i n g

h e r g u i d e l i n e s r a n g e

. 2

B r o w n ’ s a p p e l l a t e a r g u m e n t s a r e u n a v a i l i n g

. S h e a r g u e s t h a t h e r m a n d a t o r y

l i f e s e n t e n c e v i o l a t e s A p p r e n d i v

. N e w J e r s e y , 1 2 0 S

. C t

. 2 3 4 8 ( 2 0 0 0 ) , b e c a u s e t h e
j u r y d i d n o t d e t e r m i n e a s p e c i f i c d r u g q u a n t i t y

. B u t A p p r e n d i i n v o l v e s n o

r e t r o a c t i v e l y a p p l i c a b l e g u i d e l i n e a m e n d m e n t a n d p r o v i d e s n o i n d e p e n d e n t
j u r i s d i c t i o n a l b a s i s t o r e d u c e B r o w n ’ s s e n t e n c e

. S e e 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 2 0 ( 1 1 t h C i r

. 2 0 0 5 ) ( e x p l a i n i n g t h a t s e c t i o n 3 5 8 2 ( c ) ( 2 ) d o e s n o t

p r o v i d e a b a s i s f

o r a d e n o v o r e s e n t e n c i n g )

. A n d h e r a r g u m e n t t h a t t h e g u i d e l i n e s

s h o u l d b e a d v i s o r y i n a s e c t i o n 3 5 8 2 ( c ) ( 2 ) p r o c e e d i n g b a s e d o n U n i t e d S t a t e s v

.

B o o k e r , 1 2 5 S

. C t

. 7 3 8 ( 2 0 0 5 ) , a n d K i m b r o u g h v

. U n i t e d S t a t e s , 1 2 8 S

. C t

. 5 5 8

I n addition, Brow n was pre cluded f rom a sente nce r eduction bec ause she was 2 responsible for

75 kilogr ams of coc aine. I f a de fenda nt is responsible for a

t least 4.5 kilogr ams of cr ack c ocaine , Amendment 706 does not re duce he r applica ble g uidelines rang e, and she is ineligible f

or a se ntence reduc tion under sec tion 3582(c)( 2). United States v. Jones, 548 F.3d 1366, 1369 (11th Cir. 2008), ce rt. denied, 129 S.Ct. 1657 (2009).

3( 2 0 0 7 ) , s q u a r e l y i s f o r e c l o s e d b y o u r p r e c e d e n t

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

. M e l v i n , 5 5 6

F

. 3 d 1 1 9 0 , 1 1 9 2

- 9 3 ( 1 1 t h C i r

. ) , c e r t

. d e n i e d , 1 2 9 S

. C t

. 2 3 8 2 ( 2 0 0 9 )

.

A F F I R M E D

.

4