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Timestamp: 2013-05-23 01:03:51
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136 F3d 220 United States v. Marroquin | OpenJurist
136 F. 3d 220 - United States v. Marroquin	Home136 f3d 220 united states v. marroquin
136 F3d 220 United States v. Marroquin 136 F.3d 220
UNITED STATES, Appellee,v.Willy MARROQUIN, a/k/a Willy Adolfo Marroquin Mendez,Defendant, Appellant.
Heard Jan. 9, 1998.Decided Feb. 17, 1998.
This appeal is from the district court's confirmation of defendant's sentence following this court's previous remand directing it to reconsider that sentence. Defendant-appellant Willy Marroquin insists that the district court continues to err by denying him a one-level decrease pursuant to United States Sentencing Commission Guidelines Manual ("U.S.S.G.") § 3E1.1(b)(2).1 The question before us is whether the district court exceeded its authority under the Guidelines in determining that the defendant failed to provide "timely notif[ication to] authorities of his intention to enter a plea of guilty, thereby permitting the government to avoid preparing for trial and permitting the court to allocate its resources efficiently." U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1(b)(2). As we conclude the ruling was an abuse of discretion, we reverse.
The government agrees that if the Court is satisfied that the defendant has accepted responsibility at the time of sentencing, the defendant should be entitled to a three-level reduction in offense level pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1(b)(2).
The Presentence Investigation Report did not include any recommended adjustment for acceptance of responsibility, but the probation officer indicated that if the district court found that Marroquin had accepted responsibility, Marroquin should receive a three-level reduction under U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1, including a one-level reduction under U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1(b)(2) for entering a timely plea.
Marroquin appealed to this court, alleging the district court had erred in denying him an additional one-level decrease under U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1(b)(2) without making any findings that he had failed to meet the relevant criteria. The government agreed with Marroquin that the district court had not properly applied U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1(b) and moved for summary disposition in Marroquin's favor. The government contended that Marroquin was entitled to the extra reduction because of his early plea and because the "record suggest[ed] no obvious basis for denying [the additional decrease]." On December 27, 1996, in an unpublished, per curiam opinion, we vacated Marroquin's sentence and remanded "to the district court for resentencing after consideration of the § 3E1.1(b) criteria."
The court also mentioned in passing that it had "give[n] notice of the trial calendar prior to the time that the authorities were notified of intention to enter a plea of guilty." Accordingly, the district court denied Marroquin's request for a one-level decrease under § 3E1.1(b)(2).3 Marroquin took this appeal.
A sentencing court's evaluation of a defendant's acceptance of responsibility "is entitled to great deference on review." U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1, comment (n.5). Here, however, Marroquin has already been found to have accepted responsibility under § 3E1.1(a). This leaves open only the narrower question whether he has complied with the elements specified in § 3E1.1(b)(2) as preconditions to the additional one-level decrease. While we review Guidelines rulings of the district court under an abuse of discretion standard, the Supreme Court has said that a district court commits an abuse of discretion by definition when it makes an error of law. Koon v. United States, 518 U.S. 81, 94-102, 116 S.Ct. 2035, 2045-48, 135 L.Ed.2d 392 (1996). Hence to the extent it becomes a question of law whether there has been compliance with mandatory Guideline criteria such as those in § 3E1.1(b)(2), we do not defer to the district court. See United States v. Talladino, 38 F.3d 1255, 1264-65 (1st Cir.1994) (a district court lacks the discretion to deny the one-level adjustment when a defendant satisfies the relevant Guideline criteria). We will, of course, defer, in all such matters, to the district court's resolution of underlying facts and inferences, and pay careful attention to its reasoning. But if all Guideline criteria are met, and no basis to refuse the one-level decrease can be discerned, we cannot defer to the district court's refusal to grant the decrease.
Marroquin contends that he met his burden of demonstrating that he is entitled to a one-level decrease as a result of a timely plea, cf. United States v. Morillo, 8 F.3d 864, 871 (1st Cir.1993), and that the court committed clear error when it found that he had not entered a timely plea of guilty for purposes of § 3E1.1(b)(2). Section 3E1.1(b)(2) requires "timely notif[ication to] authorities of [a defendant's] intention to enter a plea" and lists two elements for determining if that happened: first, the plea must have been timely enough to have "permit[ted] the government to avoid preparing for trial"; second, its timeliness must be such as to have "permitt[ed] the court to allocate its resources efficiently." U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1(b)(2). We analyze these factors in turn, bearing in mind that the timeliness of defendant's acceptance of responsibility is "context-specific." United States v. Munoz, 83 F.3d 7, 8-9 n. 1 (1st Cir.1996) (citing U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1 comment (n.6)).
The district court denied Marroquin's request for an additional decrease primarily because it found that the government's responses to Marroquin's pre-trial motions and the chemical analysis performed by the government constituted trial preparation, especially given the relative simplicity of the case against Marroquin. We have said in dicta that work by prosecutors in responding to pre-trial motions can constitute "preparing for trial" within the purview of § 3E1.1(b)(2). See id. However, it is obvious that not every motion will force responses that should be characterized as trial preparation. Diligent defense attorneys regularly file motions after arraignment seeking information to enable them better to understand their client's case and help their client choose whether to plead or go to trial. They may also prudently file motions so as to lay ground work for future tactical choices or to deal with current client concerns such as bail and detention. In determining whether motions and the responses thereto are bars to the one-level decrease, a key question is whether their primary effect has been to force the government to engage in work preparatory for trial, or instead to provide information or relief serving legitimate ends other than trial preparation.
Having said this, we also recognize that motion practice may at times be carried on so aggressively or extensively as to impose heavy burdens upon the government. Even if motions do not force the government to prepare for trial, they may impose unreasonable burdens at odds with the purpose of § 3E1.1(b) to reward early-stage assistance to "authorities in the investigation or prosecution of [defendant's] own misconduct." We have stated that "defendants who put the prosecutors through their paces by loosing a heavy barrage of pretrial motions ... usually cannot expect to receive the bonus discount." United States v. Dethlefs, 123 F.3d 39, 43 (1st Cir.1997) (citation omitted). The aim of U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1(b)(2), after all, is to reward a defendant who enters his plea "particularly early in the case" and thereby relieves the government and court of significant burdens. U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1, comment (n.6) (emphasis added). A defendant who files a bevy of motions in order to put prosecutors "through their paces" should be denied a reward of this type. Put another way, a defendant does not lose his right to the one-level decrease simply because his attorney has filed pre-trial motions to which the government responds--but he may be denied the decrease if the effect of the motions was to force the government to prepare for trial or if the motions placed unreasonable or unusually heavy burdens upon the government inconsistent with the purpose of the one-level decrease.
On this record, we come to the conclusion that the district court abused its discretion in concluding that the government had engaged in trial preparation substantial enough to deny Marroquin a one-level decrease under § 3E1.1(b)(2).
A district court may certainly deny a one-level decrease to "a defendant who withholds a guilty plea until he stands poised on the brink of trial." Morillo, 8 F.3d at 872; see also United States v. Kimple, 27 F.3d 1409, 1413 (9th Cir.1994); United States v. Donovan, 996 F.2d 1343, 1345 (1st Cir.1993). We do not face that situation here. Marroquin gave notice of his intention to plead guilty on April 4. The court set a calendar call for April 13, on which date it apparently planned to set a specific trial date.
We cannot see how placing the case on the April 13 list, without more, materially burdened the court. If in fact more occurred--if what was done interfered in some specific way with the court's efficient allocation of judicial resources--we would have expected it to say so. No finding was made to this effect. Marroquin's plea nine days prior to the April 13 calendar call not only freed the court from having to schedule a trial date but also saved the court from considering Marroquin's eight pending pre-trial motions. At least without other illumination, we conclude that the district court's prior placement of Marroquin's case on the April 13 calendar call was, by itself, insufficient to justify a denial of a one-level decrease under 3E1.1(b)(2).
The decision whether to allow a sentencing decrease under § 3E1.1(b)(2) is normally a matter for the district court. Here, however, the district court did not find facts sufficient to support its ruling of noncompliance with § 3E1.1(b)(2). Nor can we divine any evidence in the record that would support the district court's withholding of the adjustment. Accordingly, we hold that Marroquin is entitled to a further one-level reduction in his sentence pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1(b)(2).
The court also denied Marroquin a decrease under § 3E1.1(b)(1) because it found that he did not timely provide complete information concerning his criminal activity. Marroquin does not challenge that denial and so we need not address it
In its plea agreement with Marroquin, the government took the position that, "if the Court is satisfied that the defendant has accepted responsibility at the time of sentencing, the defendant should be entitled to a three-level reduction in offense level pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1(b)(2)." The court clearly found that Marroquin had accepted responsibility because it allowed a two-level reduction under § 3E1.1(a)
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