Source: https://casetext.com/case/us-v-jones-1005
Timestamp: 2019-10-21 17:54:49
Document Index: 260101159

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 2113', '§ 2113', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 3', '§ 3742', '§ 2', '§ 3', '§ 3', '§ 3', '§ 3553']

U.S. v. Jones, 899 F.2d 1097 | Casetext
899 F.2d 1097 (11th Cir. 1990)
United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh CircuitApr 30, 1990
U.S. v. Maurice
However, if a party fails to make a specific objection at the sentencing hearing after being given an…
United States v. Louissant
On appeal, he argues that the district court failed to elicit objections after imposing his sentence as…
holding that bank tellers are vulnerable victims because they are likely targets of criminal conduct
holding that failure to raise an ex post facto objection will preclude consideration of the point on appeal absent manifest injustice
Summary of this case from Charles v. State
Neal L. Betancourt, Rotchford Betancourt, P.A., Jacksonville, Fla., for defendant-appellant.
Jones challenges the district court's factual findings on the basis of which the court determined the final offense level. He also asserts that the district court erred in failing to state its reasons for imposing the particular sentence. We find both contentions to be without merit and affirm.
Jones was indicted for bank robbery under 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) (1988). He pled not guilty and went to trial, where his counsel, in opening statement, conceded that Jones was guilty of bank larceny. The jury was instructed both on bank robbery and on the lesser-included offense of bank larceny, see id. § 2113(b). It returned a verdict of not guilty on the bank robbery charge but found him guilty of bank larceny.
Under the guidelines, bank larceny carries a base offense level of 4. See Sentencing Guidelines § 2B1.1(a) (1990). The district court determined that the proper level for Jones' particular offense was 15, after finding (1) that the taking was from the person of another, see id. § 2B1.1, and (2) that the victim was particularly susceptible to the criminal conduct, see id. § 3A1.1. The court refused to deduct levels for acceptance of responsibility, finding (3) that Jones showed no remorse and that his argument at trial that he was guilty of only the lesser-included offense was a trial tactic rather than true acceptance of responsibility. Finally, the court placed Jones in Criminal History Category III, see Sentencing Guidelines Ch. 5, Pt. A sentencing tbl. and commentary, after finding (4) that the two prior convictions were for separate and independent offenses. Jones challenges these four findings. We examine each challenge in turn, mindful that we must accept the district court's factual findings unless they are clearly erroneous, see 18 U.S.C. § 3742(d) (1988); United States v. Erves, 880 F.2d 376, 381 (11th Cir. 1989).
The district court also enhanced the offense level after finding that the crime was committed with more than minimal planning and that Jones had obstructed justice by resisting arrest and by giving a false name after arrest. Jones does not challenge these enhancements.
The sentencing guidelines group bank larceny with other theft offenses (which, like embezzlement, may involve no contact whatsoever with the victim) and provide that "[i]f the theft was from the person of another, increase [the offense level] by two. . . ." See Sentencing Guidelines § 2B1.1. Jones argues that the district court wrongly determined that his conduct involved such a taking because there was no intimidation or physical invasion of the teller's personal "space" and that therefore the enhancement provision does not apply.
This argument is without merit. Indeed, the commentary to section 2B1.1 specifically excludes intimidation as an enhancement factor for nonforcible theft crimes: "This guideline does not include an enhancement for thefts from the person by means of force or fear; such crimes are robberies." Rather, as the commentary explains, "`[f]rom the person of another' refers to property, taken without the use of force, that was being held by another person or was within arms' reach. Examples include pick-pocketing or non-forcible purse-snatching, such as the theft of a purse from a shopping cart." It is undisputed that Jones took the money from the bank teller's hands. The district court was therefore clearly correct in determining that Jones took the property from the person of another.
Section 3E1.1 directs the district court to reduce the offense level by two levels "[i]f the defendant clearly demonstrates a recognition and affirmative acceptance of personal responsibility for his criminal conduct," Sentencing Guidelines § 3E1.1(a) (emphasis added), but cautions that "[a] defendant who enters a guilty plea is not entitled to a sentencing reduction under this section as a matter of right," id. § 3E1.1(c). Thus, even if Jones' concession of guilt is the equivalent of a guilty plea, Jones is still not entitled to an automatic deduction. Rather, the commentary refers the district court to a number of factors, including, but not limited to:
Id. § 3E1.1 commentary.
Jones cannot avail himself of these factors in support of his claim for a deduction. The district court noted at the sentencing hearing that Jones did not voluntarily terminate or withdraw from his criminal conduct nor did he surrender to authorities; rather, he took flight and was apprehended and subdued only after a several-block chase and a several-minute struggle with law enforcement officers. He made no admissions to law enforcement authorities; instead, he first refused to give any name at all, then gave a false name. He did not freely relinquish the demand note, an "instrumentality of the crime," which had to be pried from his fingers. The court also concluded that Jones' concession that he was guilty of the less serious offense of bank larceny was a "trial tactic." Given the overwhelming evidence against Jones, plus his two prior convictions for bank-related offenses, we do not regard as clearly erroneous the court's finding that the concession was strategic. See United States v. Spraggins, 868 F.2d 1541, 1543 (11th Cir. 1989) (per curiam) (holding not clearly erroneous a district court's finding that a confession constituted an attempt to avoid lengthy sentence rather than an acceptance of responsibility). Even if we take Jones' concession as manifesting an acceptance of responsibility, rather than as a "trial tactic," that concession was not timely; it did not come until the trial, two and one-half months after the offense.
The commentary to section 3E1.1 emphasizes that "[t]he sentencing judge is in a unique position to evaluate a defendant's acceptance of responsibility"; therefore, the judge's "determination . . . is entitled to great deference on review and should not be disturbed unless it is without foundation." See also Spraggins, 868 F.2d at 1543. The district court's findings on acceptance of responsibility are not clearly erroneous. Indeed, there is ample foundation for those findings, and this court will not disturb them.
Jones also contends that the district court erred in imposing a sentence with a guideline range that exceeds twenty-four months without stating its reasons as required by 18 U.S.C. § 3553(c)(1) (1988). Jones misreads the statute, which provides that "[t]he court, at the time of sentencing, shall state in open court the reasons for its imposition of the particular sentence, and, if the sentence — (1) is [imposed under the guidelines and the applicable] range exceeds 24 months, the reason for imposing a sentence at a particular point within the range." Id. (emphasis added). The applicable sentencing range for a defendant in Criminal History Category III with an offense level of fifteen is from twenty-four to thirty months. See Sentencing Guidelines Ch. 5, Pt. A sentencing tbl. Although Jones received a sentence in excess of twenty-four months, the sentencing range is only six months, and section 3553(c)(1) does not apply.
We note that this appeal could have been avoided if the court, after pronouncing sentence, had asked counsel whether there were any objections — to the sentence or to the manner in which the court pronounced it — other than those previously stated for the record. If appellant voiced no objections, he would have waived the points he presents in this appeal. To ensure in future cases that all objections are raised in the trial court and that the ground for each objection is clearly stated, we now exercise our supervisory power over the district courts, see Cupp v. Naughten, 414 U.S. 141, 146, 94 S.Ct. 396, 400, 38 L.Ed.2d 638 (1973); McNabb v. United States, 318 U.S. 332, 340, 63 S.Ct. 608, 613, 87 L.Ed. 819 (1943), and instruct the district courts to elicit fully articulated objections, following imposition of sentence, to the court's ultimate findings of fact and conclusions of law.
In this circuit, the pre-sentence investigation report, prepared by a United States probation officer, serves a function similar to that of a pre-trial stipulation in a civil trial: it "establish[es] the factual and legal backdrop for the sentencing hearing," United States v. Wise, 881 F.2d 970, 972 (11th Cir. 1989). After the report is prepared, the parties have the opportunity to object to the probation officer's recitals of fact and recommended guideline applications; the probation officer then reviews these objections, amends the report to the extent he deems necessary, and sets forth in an addendum to the report any disputes that remain unresolved. See Committee on the Admin. of the Probation Sys., Judicial Conference of the U.S., Recommended Procedures for Guideline Sentencing and Commentary: Model Local Rule for Guideline Sentencing, reprinted in T. Hutchison D. Yellen, Federal Sentencing Law and Practice app. 8, at 431, 433 (1989); Wise, 881 F.2d at 972. At the sentencing hearing, the court, after engaging in a colloquy with both the prosecution and the defense, resolves all factual and legal disputes raised in the addendum. Wise, 881 F.2d at 972.
The addendum cannot serve, however, to limit the objections cognizable on appeal, because it does not take into account what transpires at the sentencing hearing itself. For example, the district court might not adopt as its own findings of fact the facts recited in the report or apply the guidelines in the manner proposed; furthermore, new causes for objection, which the parties could not reasonably have anticipated, may arise during the hearing or during the imposition of sentence. Therefore, the district court must give the parties an opportunity not only to resolve the objections contained in the addendum, but also — after the court states its factual findings, applies the guidelines, and imposes sentence — to object to the district court's ultimate findings of fact and conclusions of law and to the manner in which the sentence is pronounced. This will serve the dual purpose of permitting the district court to correct on the spot any error it may have made and of guiding appellate review.
[27] EDMONDSON, Circuit Judge, concurring:
I concur in the court's judgment and in its opinion, except part III. In part III, today's court creates a detailed procedural guideline — to be enforced by remands — about how district courts are to handle sentencing hearings. The procedure described in part III may well be a good practice, but I distrust such judicially created guidelines that are to govern in the future cases of a certain kind. The adjudicating process is poorly suited for sweeping pronouncements. And I think that, when we dictate too much to district courts, we lose the benefit of creativity that different district judges working independently can bring to solving a problem.
In dealing with cases of this type, I think we do better to confine ourselves to the particular issues presented. . . .