Source: http://ca10.washburnlaw.edu/cases/2002/05/01-3154.htm
Timestamp: 2019-01-22 17:10:13
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Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 3584', '§ 924', '§ 3584', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§924', '§ 3584', '§924', '§924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 3', '§ 3', '§ 3', 'art:\n2', '§ 3', '§3']

01-3154 -- U.S. v. Battle -- 05/08/2002
| Keyword | Case | Docket | Date: Filed / Added | (53625 bytes) (46134 bytes)
LARRY JERMAINE BATTLE, JR.,
No. 01-3154
(D.C. No. 00-CR-10059-01-JTM)
Vicki Mandell-King, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Chief, Appellate Division (Michael G. Katz, Federal Public Defender, with her on the briefs), Denver, Colorado, for Defendant-Appellant.
Lanny D. Welch, Assistant United States Attorney (James E. Flory, United States Attorney, D. Blair Watson, Assistant United States Attorney, with him on the brief), Wichita, Kansas, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
Before SEYMOUR, ALARCÓN,(*) and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
The evidence viewed in the light most favorable to the Government demonstrates that on March 29, 2000, Battle and Dius T. Lorance ("Lorance") entered Lee's Phillips 66, a gas station and convenience store, located in Wichita, Kansas that was owned by Edward S. Lee ("Mr. Lee") and his wife, Van Thu Ho ("Ms. Ho"). Battle and Lorance wore bandanas that covered their faces. At that time, Mr. Lee was behind the counter, and Ms. Ho was in a back room eating lunch. Battle was armed with a short barreled shotgun. He ordered Mr. Lee to give them the money in the cash register. While opening the cash register, Mr. Lee also pressed the alarm button to summon the police. Lorance jumped over the counter, took approximately $320.00, and then ran out of the store. Ms. Ho watched the robbery via a television monitor connected to the store's security cameras. She also activated the store's alarm system.
"[w]hoever in any way or degree obstructs, delays, or affects commerce or the movement of any article or commodity in commerce, by robbery or extortion or attempts or conspires so to do, or commits or threatens physical violence to any person or property in furtherance of a plan or purpose to do anything in violation of this section shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
Battle argues that the district court erred as a matter of law in sentencing him to consecutive sentences for violating the Hobbs Act and using a firearm that resulted in the death of Mr. Lee. He contends that Congress did not require that consecutive sentences be imposed for use of a firearm that results in the death of the victim during the commission of a Hobbs Act robbery. He also argues that multiple punishments under these circumstances violates the Double Jeopardy Clause. Because these questions were not presented to the district court, we must apply the plain error standard of review. United States v. Malone, 222 F.3d 1286, 1292 (10th Cir. 2000). In applying the plain error standard we must first determine whether "there indeed be an 'error.'" United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 732 (1993).
A district court has the discretion to impose concurrent or consecutive sentences where a defendant is convicted of separate crimes pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3584.(1) In exercising its discretion to impose consecutive sentences, a district court must state its reasons so that its decision may be meaningfully reviewed for abuse. United States v. Rose, 185 F.3d 1108, 1112-13 (10th Cir. 1999). Here, the district court did not state its reasons for imposing consecutive sentences. This omission would, in certain cases, compel us to vacate the sentences and remand the case. See id. (holding that consecutive sentences must be vacated if an appellate court is unable to determine whether the district court abused its discretion). We are not, however, compelled to vacate the district court's sentencing decision if it was mandated by §§ 924(c)(1) and (j)(1) to impose consecutive sentences because Battle caused the death of a person through the use of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence in violation of the Hobbs Act. Battle has failed to discuss the discretionary authority of a court to impose consecutive sentences pursuant to § 3584 and the requirement under Rose that the court state its reasons for doing so. Instead, Battle has assumed that the district court imposed consecutive sentences because it believed it was mandated to do so.
Battle contends that § 924(j)(1) "does not, by its express terms, require consecutive sentences." He argues that "[t]he language in § 924(j) refers to a § 924(c) violation, and not to that subsection's penalty provision." He further asserts that "[t]he structure of § 924 supports the view of § 924(j) as charging an aggravated crime different from § 924(c)." He maintains that because § 924(j) does not expressly incorporate the prohibition against the imposition of concurrent sentences contained in §924(c)(1)(D)(ii), the district court was required to order concurrent sentences. In his reply brief, he requests that "Mr. Battle's case . . . be remanded for imposition of concurrent sentences." We must resolve the question whether Congress mandated consecutive sentences where the death of a person occurs through the use of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime. We can then determine whether we must affirm the district court's sentencing decision, or vacate Battle's sentence and remand this matter with instructions to the district court to set forth the reasons, if such exist, for the exercise of its discretion to impose consecutive sentences pursuant to § 3584.
[A]ny person who, during and in relation to any crime of violence or drug trafficking crime . . . for which the person may be prosecuted in a court of the United States, uses or carries a firearm, or who, in furtherance of any such crime, possesses a firearm, shall, in addition to the punishment provided for such crime of violence or drug trafficking crime­
18 U.S.C. §924(c)(1)(A) (2000).
In enacting §924(c), Congress made it a crime to use or carry a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Section 924(c) also mandates the punishment for this crime be "in addition to" that prescribed for a crime of violence or drug trafficking. 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A). The term "in addition to" is defined as "over and above." Webster's Third International Dictionary 24 (1976). Section 924(c) also sets forth a series of aggravating sentencing factors whose presence determines the additional punishment that must be meted out by the court.
A person who, in the course of a violation of subsection (c), causes the death of a person through the use of a firearm, shall­
We agree with Battle that the words used in § 924(j) by Congress are unambiguous. We disagree, however, with his contention that § 924(j) sets forth "an aggravated crime different from § 924(c)." We also note that this argument is inconsistent with Battle's earlier contention that "[t]he language in § 924(j) refers to a § 924(c) violation."
The plain meaning of the words used in § 924(j) unequivocally provide that if the evidence shows a violation of § 924(c) (i.e. the use or carrying of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence or a drug trafficking crime), a district court must impose a consecutive sentence over and above the punishment prescribed for the violent crime. The length of the additional punishment depends upon proof of any of the escalating sentencing factors set forth in § 924.(2) Section 924(j) describes the sentencing factors that must be proved in order to impose a consecutive sentence of death, life imprisonment or a term of years.
In construing §§ 924(c) and (j), we recognize that "[a] federal court must 'give effect to the will of Congress, and where its will has been expressed in reasonably plain terms, that language must ordinarily be regarded as conclusive.'" United States v. Kammersell, 196 F.3d 1137, 1139 (10th Cir. 1999) (citation omitted). "'[A]s long as the statutory scheme is coherent and consistent, there generally is no need for a court to inquire beyond the plain language of the statute.'" Id. (citing United States v. Ron Pair Enterprises, 489 U.S. 235, 240-241 (1989)). This court has also recognized that "[s]tatutory construction . . . is a holistic endeavor. A provision that may seem ambiguous in isolation is often clarified by the remainder of the statutory scheme­because . . . only one of the permissible meanings produces a substantive effect that is compatible with the rest of the law." United States v. Rowlett, 23 F.3d 300, 304 (10th Cir. 1994) (internal quotations and citation omitted).
Report of Senate Committee on the Judiciary, S. Rep. No. 98-225, at 313-14 (1983), reprinted in 1984 U.S.C.C.A.N. 3182, 3492 (footnote omitted).
Battle contends that consecutive sentences are not required where the evidence shows that during a violation of § 924(c), the defendant caused the death of a person through the use of a firearm. As noted above in advancing this argument, Battle contends that § 924(j) "establishes a different aggravated offense, with elements in addition to those in § 924(c)." We disagree. Section 924(j) does not set forth a discrete crime. It does not apply unless the Government presents evidence demonstrating a violation of § 924(c). As discussed above, Congress has expressly provided that the punishment imposed for a violation of § 924(c) must be "in addition to" the punishment for a crime of violence or a drug trafficking crime.
United States v. Overstreet, 40 F.3d 1090, 1095 (10th Cir. 1999) (quoting United States v. Singleton, 16 F.3d 1419, 1427-28 (5th Cir. 1994)).
[Section] 924(j) should be construed independently of § 924(c) because it does not contain the same "in addition to" language, the legislative history suggests Congress only intended to authorize the death penalty for violation of § 924(j) if the death penalty was not already authorized for the underlying violent offense, and any ambiguity must be resolved in favor of a defendant based on the rule of lenity."
[W]hen read in context of the criminal scheme set forth in § 924(c), we think § 924(j) is fairly interpreted as an additional aggravating punishment for the scheme already set out in § 924(c). We reach this conclusion because of § 924(j)'s explicit reference to § 924(c) and because each subsection of the statute is designed for the same purpose­to impose steeper penalties on those criminals who use firearms when engaging in crimes of violence. Moreover, Allen's proposed interpretation of § 924(j) would lead to the odd result that a defendant convicted under § 924(c) is subject to an additional consecutive sentence only in situations that do not result in a death caused by use of the firearm. We think it unlikely that Congress, which clearly intended to impose additional cumulative punishments for using firearms during violent crimes in cases where no murder occurs, would turn around and not intend to impose cumulative punishments in cases where there are actual murder victims.
Battle further contends that the district court erred in applying the Sentencing Guidelines. He argues that he should have received a third-level reduction of his base offense level for acceptance of responsibility pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1(b)(1). He also contends that the district court erred in grouping his conviction for violation of the Hobbs Act with his conviction for using a firearm and causing the death of a person in the commission of a violent crime. These sentencing issues are raised for the first time in this appeal. Battle did not raise these objections in the district court. We review his contentions for plain error. United States v. Lindsay, 184 F.3d 1138, 1142 (10th Cir. 1999). Under the plain error standard, Battle must show clear or obvious error that affected his substantial rights and seriously affected the integrity of the judicial proceedings. Johnson v. United States, 520 U.S. 461, 466-67 (1997).
Section 3E1.1 of the U.S.S.G. provides for reductions in the offense level for acceptance of responsibility.(3) The district court found that Battle qualified for a two-level reduction, pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1(a), because he admitted robbing the convenience store and shooting Mr. Lee.
The probation officer who prepared the presentence report recommended against a reduction for acceptance of responsibility. The Government also opposed any reduction for acceptance of responsibility because Battle did not provide complete information concerning his involvement in the offense. The record shows that Battle told the FBI that he shot Mr. Lee in self-defense. Battle said that Mr. Lee advanced toward him and appeared to be reaching for a weapon. The Government presented witnesses at the sentencing hearing who testified that Mr. Lee obeyed Battle's commands and did not advance towards him or make any threatening gestures. Thus, whether Battle provided complete information to the Government entitling him to a third-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility pursuant to § 3E1.1(b)(1) was a sharply disputed issue of fact at the sentencing hearing. Under the law of this circuit, a factual dispute as to whether a particular guideline applies does not rise to the level of plain error. United States v. Merritt, 1998 WL 3471, at *2 (10th Cir. Jan. 6, 1998) (unpublished); United States v. Jones, 80 F.3d 436, 438 (10th Cir. 1996); United States v. Covarrubias-Garcia, 1994 WL 38647, at *2-3 (10th Cir. Feb. 10, 1994) (unpublished); United States v. Easter, 981 F.2d 1549, 1556 (10th Cir. 1992); see also United States v. Deninno, 29 F.3d 572, 580 (10th Cir. 1994) (noting that failure to object to a presentence report's statement of fact constitutes a waiver of the issue). Therefore, we do not reach Battle's contention that he was entitled to an additional reduction for acceptance of responsibility for providing complete information to the Government.
1. Section 3584 provides in pertinent part:
2. Section 924 is headed "Penalties."
3. Pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1:
timely providing complete information to the government concerning his own involvement in the offense . . .
U.S.S.G. §3E1.1.
URL: http://ca10.washburnlaw.edu/cases/2002/05/01-3154.htm.