Source: http://cl.bna.com/cl/19980415/973366.htm
Timestamp: 2019-01-21 05:07:25
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Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 3', '§ 4', '§ 3', '§ 3', '§ 3', '§ 3', '§ 3', '§ 3', '§ 3', '§ 3', '§ 3', '§ 3', '§ 3', '§ 3', '§ 3', '§ 3', '§ 3', '§ 3', '§ 3', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 3', '§ 3', '§ 3', '§ 3', '§ 3', '§ 3', '§ 3', '§ 3']

Marc A. Snoddy,
Before MCMILLIAN and FAGG, Circuit Judges, and BENNETT,See footnote * District Judge.
When, if ever, can a criminal defendant who pleads guilty to a sole participant offense obtain a reduction in sentence pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2(b) for being a "minor participant"? The defendant here_who pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana with intent to distribute it after being caught with a truckload of the controlled substance_claims that his role as a "mule" was minor compared to the other players in the marijuana distribution scheme. Despite the government's agreement to a "minor participant" reduction in a plea agreement, and the defendant's uncontested evidence of his minor role offered at sentencing, the sentencing judge concluded that the defendant could not receive a "minor participant" reduction, because he was charged with a sole participant offense rather than conspiracy to distribute the marijuana.
It is well-established that this court reviews a district court's factual findings at sentencing for clear error. See, e.g., United States v. Covington, 133 F.3d 639, 642 & 643-44 (8th Cir. 1998) (this court's review of factual determinations with respect to offenses in the criminal history computation pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1 "'are subject to a "clearly erroneous" standard of review,'" quoting United States v. Lowe, 930 F.2d 645, 646-47 (8th Cir. 1991), as are findings as to the identity of drugs attributable to a defendant); United States v. Whatley, 133 F.3d 601, 606 (8th Cir. 1998) (this court reviews for clear error factual findings for sentencing); United States v. Dierling, 131 F.3d 722, 736 (8th Cir. 1997) (appellate review of sentencing findings is for clear error); United States v. Wells, 127 F.3d 739, 744 (8th Cir. 1997) (when the challenge to a guidelines sentence was by the government, this court reviewed the district court's findings of fact for clear error); United States v. Darden, 70 F.3d 1507, 1544 (8th Cir. 1995) (same), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 116 S. Ct. 1449, and cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 116 S. Ct. 2567 (1996). This "clear error" standard applies specifically to the district court's denial on factual grounds of a "minor participant" reduction pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2. See United States v. Holloway, 128 F.3d 1254, 1258 (8th Cir. 1997); United States v. Chatman, 119 F.3d 1335, 1341 (8th Cir. 1997) (noting that the burden is on the defendant to demonstrate that he or she is entitled to a "minor participant" reduction pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2, and that "[a] district court's factual determination regarding the role played by a defendant in a criminal activity is reviewed under the 'clearly erroneous' standard," citing United States v. Fregoso, 60 F.3d 1314, 1329 (8th Cir. 1995), and United States v. Ellis, 890 F.2d 1040, 1041 (8th Cir. 1989)), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 118 S. Ct. 434 (1997); United States v. Van Brocklin, 115 F.3d 587, 601 (8th Cir. 1997) ("We review the district court's determination of § 3B1.2 adjustments for clear error.").See footnote 1
However, it is just as well-established that review of a district court's interpretation and construction of the federal sentencing guidelines is de novo. See, e.g., Wells, 127 F.3d at 744 (when this court reviewed the government's challenge to a sentence imposed under the guidelines, this court stated that review of the district court's application and construction of the guidelines is de novo, but the court found that each of the government's challenges concerned a factual finding, so that each was reviewed for clear error); United States v. Drapeau, 121 F.3d 344, 347 (8th Cir. 1997) ("'The district court's interpretation of the sentencing guidelines is a question of law subject to de novo review, while its factual determinations are subject to review only for clear error,'" quoting United States v. Larson, 110 F.3d 620, 627 (8th Cir. 1997)); United States v. Dolan, 120 F.3d 856, 870 (8th Cir. 1997) (although factual determinations for sentencing under the federal guidelines are reviewed under the clearly erroneous standard, "[w]e review de novo the district court's interpretation of the Guidelines"); Van Brocklin, 115 F.3d at 600 ("We review the district court's interpretation of the Guidelines de novo, and the factual findings supporting its conclusions for clear error."); United States v. Jones, 87 F.3d 247, 248 (8th Cir.) (per curiam) (appellate review of the district court's construction and interpretation of Chapter Four of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines is de novo), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 117 S. Ct. 374 (1996); Darden, 70 F.3d at 1544.
We thus embark on a de novo interpretation of U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2. That guideline provides for a reduction in the defendant's base offense level owing to his or her "mitigating role" in terms of either "minimal" or "minor" participation. U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2;See footnote 2 United States v. Padilla-Pena, 129 F.3d 457, 471 (8th Cir. 1997), petition for cert. filed, (Feb. 3, 1998) (No. 97-7772), and petition for cert. filed, (Feb. 3, 1998) (No. 97-7790). As this court recently explained, a "minor participant" pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2
is "any participant who is less culpable than most other participants, but whose role could not be described as minimal." [U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2], application note 3. The mere fact that a defendant is less culpable than his codefendants does not entitle defendant to "minor participant" status. United States v. West, 942 F.2d 528, 531 (8th Cir. 1991). Whether a downward adjustment is warranted is determined not only by comparing the acts of each participant in relation to the relevant conduct for which the participant is held accountable, but also by measuring each participant's individual acts and relative culpability against the elements of the offense. United States v. Goebel, 898 F.2d 675, 677 (8th Cir. 1990).
Padilla-Pena, 129 F.3d at 471;See footnote 3 Holloway, 128 F.3d at 1258; Chatman, 119 F.3d at 1341.
As the government asserts, this court has recognized that a defendant's role as just a "mule" in a drug distribution scheme does not necessarily entitle the defendant to a "minor participant" reduction. See, e.g., Chatman, 119 F.3d at 1341 (although the defendant contended that he was merely a "mule" in a drug distribution scheme, this court held that a "minor participant" reduction was not required just because other parties supplied the drugs and the defendant merely transported them); United States v. McGrady, 97 F.3d 1042, 1043 (8th Cir. 1996) (although the defendant contended that he was merely a courier who played a small role in the drug deals, the court upheld denial of a "minor participant" reduction, because the defendant's role was "significant" in carrying out the drug transactions); United States v. Carrazco, 91 F.3d 65, 67 (8th Cir. 1996) (where the defendant argued that he was entitled to a § 3B1.2 reduction because he was just a "mule," this court upheld denial of the reduction, because he was not just a "mule," and even if he was, "a downward adjustment would not necessarily have been warranted: 'A defendant's status as courier does not necessarily mean he is less culpable than other participants in a drug operation,'" quoting United States v. Williams, 890 F.2d 102, 104 (8th Cir. 1989), and the record was to the contrary in that case).
Other circuit courts of appeals, however, have visited the legal question of whether a person convicted of or pleading guilty to a "sole participant" offense can nonetheless receive a reduction pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2 for being only a "minor participant." The District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals considered precisely this question in 1991 in United States v. Caballero, 936 F.2d 1292 (D.C. Cir. 1991), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 1061 (1992). In that case, the district court granted a two-level "minor participant" reduction pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2(b) to a defendant convicted of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute it. Id. The defendant appealed his conviction on Fourth Amendment grounds and the government cross-appealed on the ground that, because the defendant was convicted of a crime that did not involve any other participant, the defendant could not have been a "minor" participant in that crime as a matter of law. Id. at 1297. The District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals noted that in a prior decision, it had held that an increase in a defendant's offense level pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1 for an "aggravating role" in an offense could "'only be considered when the defendant has a role in the offense for which "relative responsibility" can be allocated,'" and furthermore, that the court could not look to "relevant conduct" as defined by section 1B1.3(a). Id. (quoting United States v. Williams, 891 F.2d 921, 926 (D.C. Cir. 1989)).
Like the several courts that have addressed this issue since the clarifying amendment, we conclude that section 3B1 allows the sentencing judge to look to "'the contours of the underlying scheme itself' rather than the mere elements of 'the offense charged.'" United States v. Rodriguez, 925 F.2d 107, 111 (5th Cir. 1991) (quoting United States v. Mir, 919 F.2d 940, 945 (5th Cir. 1990)). See United States v. Fells, 920 F.2d 1179, 1185 (4th Cir. 1990) ("we reject the argument . . . that a court is bound by the narrow scope of the offense for which the defendant was convicted")[, cert. denied, 501 U.S. 1219 (1991)]; United States v. Bierley, 922 F.2d 1061, 1065 (3d Cir. 1990) ("the fact that there is only one 'defendant' does not necessarily mean that there was only one 'participant'" for purposes of 3B1); see also United States v. Gordon, 895 F.2d 932, 935 (4th Cir.) (Wilkins, J.) (pre-amendment decision written by Sentencing Commission chairman, holding that mitigating adjustment is appropriate if there has been group conduct, even if group did not participate in specific crime of conviction), cert. denied, [498] U.S. [846], 111 S. Ct. 131, 112 L. Ed. 2d 98 (1990). Of particular interest are the Fifth Circuit decisions in Rodriguez and Mir. Before the amendment, that circuit, following our Williams decision, held that section 3B1 does not allow consideration of "relevant conduct" as defined by section 1B1.1. See United States v. Barbontin, 907 F.2d 1494 (5th Cir. 1990); United States v. Mourning, 914 F.2d 699 (5th Cir. 1990); United States v. Alfaro, 919 F.2d 962 (5th Cir. 1990). In response to the amendment, however, the Fifth Circuit reversed direction in Mir, 919 F.2d at 944-46, and then, in Rodriguez, 925 F.2d at 110-11, explicitly rejected its earlier interpretation. Because our reasoning in Williams_like that in the earlier Fifth Circuit case_was nullified by the clarifying amendment, we too must adjust our interpretation of section 3B1.
Since the decision of the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals in Caballero, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has joined that court in concluding that "minor participant" determinations pursuant to § 3B1.2 for persons convicted of "sole participant" crimes_such as possession with intent to distribute controlled substances_ must be made on the basis of the two-prong test established in Caballero, also reversing its own prior precedent to reach that conclusion. Compare United States v. Demers, 13 F.3d 1381, 1382 (9th Cir. 1994) (reiterating the two-prong test in Caballero, citing Webster, infra); United States v. Webster, 996 F.2d 209 (9th Cir. 1993) (statements in prior decisions that "downward adjustments may not be based on relevant but uncharged conduct are no longer valid because of the subsequent adoption by the Sentencing Commission of amendment 345 to the introductory commentary to Chapter Three, Part B of the Guidelines"); with United States v. Valdez-Gonzalez, 957 F.2d 643, 648 (9th Cir. 1992) (holding that a downward adjustment pursuant to § 3B1.2 was not available for drug couriers where the defendants "were the sole participants in the offenses to which they pleaded guilty"); United States v. Zweber, 913 F.2d 705, 709 (9th Cir. 1990) (holding that § 3B1.2 "specifically requires the court to adjust only for the defendant's role in the conviction offense, not in charged or uncharged collateral conduct," and "the role in the collateral conduct may not itself serve as the basis for a role adjustment").
The conclusions of the District of Columbia and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals that defendants convicted of "sole participant" offenses may nonetheless be entitled to a "minor participant" reduction are sound in light of the present language of the Sentencing Guidelines and application notes thereto. First, § 3B1.2 states that the reduction is to be made on the basis of the defendant's degree of participation "in any criminal activity," not merely in the offense of conviction. U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2. Indeed, this court has so held. See United States v. Lucht, 18 F.3d 541, 556 (8th Cir.) (the determination of a defendant's role in an offense is based on all relevant conduct, not solely on the act of conviction), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 949 (1994). Furthermore, the application notes instruct that the degree of participation is to be measured in comparison to other participants in "concerted" or "group" activity, not merely those involved in a charged "conspiracy." U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2, application note 1. Yet, most persuasive of all, as the other appellate courts to consider the question have concluded, is the specific instruction in the introductory commentary to Part B that "[t]he determination of a defendant's role in the offense is to be made on the basis of all conduct within the scope of § 1B1.3 (Relevant Conduct), i.e., all conduct included under § 1B1.3 (a)(1)-(4), and not solely on the basis of the elements and acts cited in the count of conviction." U.S.S.G. § Ch. 3, Part B, introductory commentary. Furthermore, application notes to § 3B1.1 explain that a "participant" "is a person who is criminally responsible for the commission of the offense, but need not have been convicted." U.S.S.G. § 3B1.1, application note 1.See footnote 4
Nor can we find that it makes any difference to the applicability of a downward adjustment pursuant to § 3B1.2 that Snoddy was pleading guilty in the District of Nebraska to an indictment from the Southern District of Texas pursuant to Rule 20 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Rule 20 provides that, after the defendant has stated a wish to plead guilty in one district after indictment in another, and after the United States attorneys for both districts have agreed to the transfer, "the prosecution shall continue" in the transferee district. Fed. R. Crim. P. 20. The rule does not, however, put any limitations upon the sentencing power of the transferee court. The "continuation" of the prosecution would naturally include consideration of all relevant sentencing guidelines, both aggravating and mitigating, enhancing or reducing. Cf. United States v. Ford, 618 F.2d 530, 542 (7th Cir. 1980) ("The reported decisions hold or recognize that where an indictment is transferred under Rule 20, the transferor court loses jurisdiction and the transferee court acquires exclusive jurisdiction of the indictment proceeding. Examples are Warren v. Richardson, 333 F.2d 781, 783 (9th Cir. 1964); Perry v. United States, 432 F. Supp. 645, 648-49 (M.D. Fla. 1977); United States v. Binion, 107 F. Supp. 680 (D. Nev. 1952)."). But see United States v. Khan, 822 F.2d 451, 455 (4th Cir. 1987) ("The unmistakable assumption underlying Rule 20 is that a transfer will occur only when a defendant first concedes criminal culpability thereby waiving any trial on the charges. The transfer is then purely for the purpose of imposing sentence. Subject matter jurisdiction is, thereby, shifted from the charging district to the transferee district for the narrow purpose envisioned in the rule," and the transferee court erred by entering a judgment of acquittal, because a determination of the merits of the charges by the transferee court "clearly exceeded the limits of the delegated jurisdiction under Rule 20").
We find no legal impediment to application of a "minor participant" reduction to Snoddy's base offense level under U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2, as that sentencing guideline is properly construed.See footnote 5 It also appears to us that the sentencing judge probably made the necessary factual findings to satisfy the Caballero test we have adopted today. Caballero, 936 F.2d at 1299. For example, the sentencing judge was "not quarreling or taking exception" with Snoddy's version of his participation in a multi-participant drug distribution scheme, and indeed, the sentencing judge professed himself willing to grant Snoddy a minor role reduction, based on his degree of participation as compared to others, had Snoddy been charged with conspiracy. Transcript of Sentencing Proceedings, p. 29. However, in an abundance of caution, we will remand to the district court for specific factual determinations of Snoddy's role in the offense and resentencing under a correct construction of U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2, rather than simply reversing and imposing a different sentence. This course seems to us the most prudent, because, as both this court and the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals have previously observed, determination of participant status in an offense is an intensely factual one. See Padilla-Pena, 129 F.3d at 471 ("Whether a downward adjustment is warranted is determined not only by comparing the acts of each participant in relation to the relevant conduct for which the participant is held accountable, but also by measuring each participant's individual acts and relative culpability against the elements of the offense."); Caballero, 936 F.2d at 1299 ("The application of section 3B1.2 is inherently fact-bound and largely committed to the discretion of the trial judge."). Thus, it is more appropriate for the sentencing judge to reassess Snoddy's participation upon a remand.
CLERK, U. S. COURT OF APPEALS, EIGHTH CIRCUIT
Footnote: * The HONORABLE MARK W. BENNETT, United States District Judge for the Northern District of Iowa, sitting by designation.
Footnote: 1 Although factual determinations concerning a defendant's role in an offense are reviewed for clear error, the district court's determination of whether to grant a two-level reduction for "minor" participation or a four-level reduction for "minimal" participation is reviewed for abuse of discretion. See United States v. McCarthy, 97 F.3d 1562, 1579 (8th Cir. 1996), cert. denied sub nom. Thompsen v. United States, ___ U.S. ___, 117 S. Ct. 1011, and cert. denied sub nom. Houston v. United States, ___ U.S. ___, 117 S. Ct. 1284 (1997).
Footnote: 2 This sentencing guideline is as follows:
Footnote: 3 By way of comparison, this court explained "minimal participation" as follows:
Footnote: 4 It would be unreasonable to assume that "participant" meant one thing for the "aggravating role" adjustment, and another thing for the "mitigating role" adjustment. Thus, we do not hesitate to apply the definition of "participant" in the application notes to § 3B1.1 to § 3B1.2.
Footnote: 5 Indeed, there would be no legal impediment to any "mitigating role" reduction, whether "minimal," "minor," or "in between" pursuant to § 3B1.2, simply because Snoddy was charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana---a "sole participant" offense---rather than a conspiracy offense.