Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/15/849/536451/
Timestamp: 2020-07-12 14:22:40
Document Index: 64369140

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 371', '§ 2113', '§ 924', '§ 371', '§ 2113', '§ 924', '§ 924', '§ 3231', '§ 1291', '§ 924']

United States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Antonio Mckinney, Defendant-appellant, 15 F.3d 849 (9th Cir. 1994) :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › Federal Courts › Courts of Appeals › Ninth Circuit › 1994 › United States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Antonio Mckinney, Defendant-appellant
United States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Antonio Mckinney, Defendant-appellant, 15 F.3d 849 (9th Cir. 1994)
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit - 15 F.3d 849 (9th Cir. 1994) Argued and Submitted Oct. 8, 1993. Decided Jan. 28, 1994
Following a jury trial, Antonio McKinney was convicted of conspiracy, 18 U.S.C. § 371; armed bank robbery, 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) & (d); and using a firearm during a crime of violence, 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) (1). He was sentenced to 106 months imprisonment. On appeal, McKinney challenges both his conviction and his sentence. In an unpublished memorandum filed concurrently, we reject McKinney's challenges to his conviction. In this opinion, we vacate McKinney's sentence and remand for the district court to award him a two-level reduction in his base offense level for acceptance of responsibility.
On May 12, 1992, the grand jury returned a three-count indictment, which charged McKinney and his co-defendant, Oscar Bryant, with conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 (Count One); armed bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) (d) (Count Two); and use of a firearm during a crime of violence in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) (1) (Count Three).1 McKinney initially pled not guilty to all counts. The district court denied his motion to suppress the money seized during the search of the duffel bag, and the case proceeded to trial.
The jury returned guilty verdicts on all three counts. Despite McKinney's confession, assistance to authorities, and attempts to plead guilty, the court, at sentencing, denied him a two-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility. Instead, it adopted the presentence report's conclusion that McKinney was not entitled to an acceptance of responsibility reduction because he contested his guilt at trial. The court calculated the offense level for Counts One and Two at 23. Combined with McKinney's criminal history category of I, this offense level yielded a guideline range of 46 to 57 months. Conviction on Count Three resulted in a mandatory consecutive 5-year term. See 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) (1). The court imposed concurrent 46-month terms on Counts One and Two, and a consecutive 60-month term on Count Three, for a total sentence of 106 months. McKinney filed a timely appeal. The district court had jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3231. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291.
A defendant is not required to plead guilty to receive the acceptance of responsibility reduction. See U.S.S.G. Sec. 3E1.1(b) (1991) ("A defendant may be given consideration under this section without regard to whether his conviction is based on a guilty plea or a finding of guilt by the court or a jury...."). Although the commentary to Section 3E1.1 states that " [e]ntry of a plea of guilty prior to the commencement of trial combined with truthful admission of involvement in the offense and related conduct will constitute significant evidence of acceptance of responsibility for the purposes of this section," U.S.S.G. Sec. 3E1.1 cmt. 3 (1991),7 nothing in the guidelines requires a defendant to plead guilty in order to receive the reduction. See United States v. Gonzalez, 897 F.2d 1018, 1020 (9th Cir. 1990). Indeed, were a defendant required to plead guilty to be entitled to the reduction, the sentencing guidelines would penalize the exercise of the constitutional right to go to trial. See United States v. Johnson, 956 F.2d 894, 904 (9th Cir. 1992). Where a defendant manifests a genuine acceptance of responsibility for his actions, he is entitled to the reduction even if he does not plead guilty. See U.S.S.G. Sec. 3E1.1 cmt. 2 ("Conviction by trial, however, does not automatically preclude a defendant from consideration for such a reduction.").
Our focus on the defendant's personal contrition, rather than on his exercise of his constitutional rights, best serves the purposes of the acceptance of responsibility reduction. The primary goal of the reduction is to reward defendants who are genuinely contrite. See U.S.S.G. Sec. 3E1.1 commentary and background; United States v. Wivell, 893 F.2d 156, 158 (8th Cir. 1990). In the ordinary case, a defendant who pleads not guilty and is convicted will have a difficult time convincing the court that his subsequent acceptance of responsibility for his actions is anything but a self-serving and insincere expression. Where the defendant's statements and conduct make it clear that his contrition is sincere, however, he is entitled to the reduction even if he is convicted after a trial. McKinney's confession, assistance to authorities, and attempts to plead guilty make his sincere contrition clear beyond all measure. We conclude that the district court misconstrued the applicable guidelines and clearly erred in denying him the reduction.
We have found the acceptance of responsibility reduction appropriate in cases where the defendants' contrition seemed far less genuine than McKinney's. For example, in United States v. Johnson, 956 F.2d 894, 904 (9th Cir. 1992), we vacated a sentence and instructed the district court to consider whether a defendant was entitled to the reduction where she pled not guilty only because she could not obtain a favorable plea bargain. Unlike McKinney, the defendant in Johnson could have entered a plea of guilty any time she wanted to; she only chose not to because she could not strike a deal on favorable terms. See also United States v. Rodriguez, 975 F.2d 999, 1008 (3rd Cir. 1992) (vacating sentence for consideration of acceptance of responsibility reduction where defendants had gone to trial after the government revoked its plea bargain agreement). In United States v. Hill, 953 F.2d 452, 461 (9th Cir. 1991), we upheld a grant of the reduction because the district court found that the defendant was sincerely contrite despite the fact that his expression of remorse came at the "eleventh hour"--his sentencing hearing. McKinney, by contrast, expressed remorse for his conduct soon after his arrest, in his confession statement, in open court at trial, and at his sentencing hearing.
Even if McKinney's failure to plead guilty to the conspiracy charge was motivated by a conscious decision not to incriminate his co-conspirators, his actions were still consistent with a sincere acceptance of responsibility for his own conduct. The presentence report stated that McKinney "indicate [d] that he cannot place the blame of his behavior on others, as it was he that made the mistake." Even though McKinney apparently did not attempt to plead guilty to conspiracy and refused to incriminate his co-conspirators when questioned by the FBI, a reduction in his offense level is still warranted under Section 3E1.1. This section focuses on the defendant's sincere remorse for his own conduct, not his assistance to authorities in incriminating others.10 The section itself refers only to the defendant's "recognition and affirmative acceptance of personal responsibility for his criminal conduct," U.S.S.G. Sec. 3E1.1(a) (1991) (emphasis added), and the factors listed in the application notes similarly relate exclusively to the defendant's manifestations of contrition for his own conduct. Cf. United States v. Gonzalez, 6 F.3d 1415, 1420-21 (9th Cir. 1993) (stating that Sec. 3E1.1 requires a defendant only to recognize and accept personal responsibility for his criminal conduct and not to tell authorities truthfully the reasons he committed his crimes), as amended. A defendant's degree of assistance in the prosecution of a codefendant is relevant only to his entitlement for a departure for substantial assistance under Sec. 5K1.1. Where the defendant's refusal to assist authorities in the prosecution of his codefendants does not detract from his clear contrition for his own actions, he is still entitled to the acceptance of responsibility reduction.
Because we conclude that the district court clearly erred in denying McKinney a two-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility, we vacate McKinney's sentence and remand for resentencing. On remand, the district court should resentence McKinney in accordance with the guidelines in effect at resentencing. See United States v. Sweeten, 933 F.2d 765, 772 (9th Cir. 1991). In addition to granting him the two-level reduction, the district court should consider whether McKinney is entitled to an additional one-level reduction under the current version of the guidelines. The current version of section 3E1.1 provides for this additional one-level reduction in the offense level where "the defendant has assisted authorities in the investigation or prosecution of his own misconduct by ... timely providing complete information to the government concerning his own involvement in the offense...." U.S.S.G. Sec. 3E1.1(b) (1) (1993). Although the decision is up to the district court in the first instance, we note that McKinney's cooperation with authorities in providing the location of the gun used in the robbery and his immediate, voluntary confession weigh heavily in favor of his entitlement to this additional decrease in his offense level.
Count Three also alleged that the gun used in the robbery was subject to forfeiture under 18 U.S.C. § 924(d) (1)
We review for clear error a district court's determination that a defendant is not entitled to a reduction in his offense level for acceptance of responsibility. United States v. Gonzalez, 897 F.2d 1018, 1019 (9th Cir. 1990)
Although McKinney did not plead guilty, the district court was still obliged to assess his conduct in light of the "appropriate considerations" listed in the application notes. See U.S.S.G. Sec. 1B1.7 ("Failure to follow such commentary could constitute an incorrect application of the guidelines, subjecting the sentence to possible reversal on appeal."); Stinson v. United States, --- U.S. ----, ----, 113 S. Ct. 1913, 1915, 123 L. Ed. 2d 598 (1993) (" [C]ommentary in the Guidelines Manual that interprets or explains a guideline is authoritative unless it violates the Constitution or a federal statute, or is inconsistent with, or a plainly erroneous reading of, that guideline."); United States v. Anderson, 942 F.2d 606, 612 (9th Cir. 1991) (stating that "the commentary is entitled to considerable weight, more so than ordinary legislative history, in interpreting the guidelines"). The district court's failure to consider these factors constitutes clear error, see United States v. Sullivan, 916 F.2d 417, 420 (7th Cir. 1990), and is an independent basis for our decision
This case is not like United States v. Ford, 989 F.2d 347, 352-353 (9th Cir. 1993). There, the court, in denying acceptance of responsibility, relied on the defendant's ongoing concealment of records which provided crucial evidence of his own culpability. Here, by contrast, McKinney clearly admitted his own culpability, and he helped authorities uncover evidence of it. The government takes issue only with his lack of enthusiasm for incriminating his codefendants. Incrimination of codefendants is not the focus of section 3E1.1, however; acceptance of personal responsibility is