Source: http://web.openjurist.org/371/f3d/239/united-states-v-d-bell
Timestamp: 2018-05-23 16:40:12
Document Index: 69382362

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 3553', '§ 4', '§ 3742', '§ 3742', '§ 3742', '§ 4', '§ 5']

371 F3d 239 United States v. D Bell | OpenJurist
371 F. 3d 239 - United States v. D Bell
371 F3d 239 United States v. D Bell
371 F.3d 239
Ruby D. Henry BELL, Defendant-Appellee.
No. 03-20194.
B. Application of the De Novo Standard
The court of appeals shall give due regard to the opportunity of the district court to judge the credibility of witnesses, and shall accept the findings of fact of the district court unless they are clearly erroneous and, except with respect to determinations under subsection (3)(A) or (3)(B), shall give due deference to the district court's application of the guidelines to the facts. With respect to determinations under subsection (3)(A) or (3)(B), the court of appeals shall review de novo the district court's application of the guidelines to the facts.11
We read this language as mandating a two-tier review of guideline departures, which are addressed generally by subsection (3). First, we must review de novo the sentencing court's decision to depart (under subsection (3)(B)), determining whether the departure is based on appropriate factors and taking into account the statutory provisions listed in (3)(B)(i) and (ii), the facts of the case under review, and the sentencing court's application of the guidelines to those facts.12 Second, if we find the decision to depart to be appropriate, we must review the degree of that departure for abuse of discretion, based on the sentencing court's written statement of reasons for the departure provided pursuant to § 3553(c). Other courts of appeal that have considered the Act's new standard of review provisions have also concluded that such a two-tier framework is appropriate.13
1. The decision to depart
The stated basis for Bell's sentencing departure, noted in the district court's written statement of reasons, was that Bell's criminal history category over-represented the seriousness of her past offenses, thus warranting a departure under U.S.S.G. § 4A1.3(b)(1). This "factor" on which the departure was based clearly meets section 3742(e)(3)(B)(i) and (ii)'s requirements, in that this basis for departure has already been considered and approved by the Sentencing Commission. We agree with the First Circuit that, "in reviewing a departure under § 3742(e)(3)(B)(i) and (ii), [we] must accept and may not look behind the Sentencing Commission's determination that a particular categorical basis for departure is permissible or impermissible."14 We must nevertheless conduct our review under subsection (3)(B)(iii) and decide whether the departure on that basis is "justified by the facts of the case." This task is complicated by the facts that (1) we must endeavor to do so without reviewing the degree of the departure, as the latter is to be reviewed under subsection (3)(C), and (2) we must employ our traditional abuse of discretion standard — not the Act's newly-imposed de novo review — regarding that prong of the analysis.15
As we review the degree of the departure for abuse of discretion only, which makes sense in light of the district court's superior vantage point to make that fact-intensive determination, we conclude that the review under subsection (3)(B)(iii) is more generalized, asking whether a departure (as opposed to the specific departure granted) on the grounds proffered can be justified under the facts of the case. Even that limited inquiry, however, is impossible in the instant case because of the absence of specificity in the district court's written statement of reasons and its apparent conflation of several different grounds for departure.
So I'm conflicted between my strong desire to see Ms. Bell punished for her actions ... and my concern about a[sic] creating a break in her mental health treatment that she's currently receiving, which I think would be the unfortunate result of a period of incarceration.... [E]ven [though] the potential period of incarceration is so limited, I think that there is a significant likelihood that there would be a break in her mental health treatment and counseling that would be too long, and ... we're talking about ... putting Ms. Bell back into the community in not as good a mental health state as she currently has as a result of that break in treatment. So I'm going to grant the motion for downward departure on this basis, on the basis of the criminal history issue. (emphasis added).
This concern for Bell's mental health treatment was not addressed in the district court's statement of reasons required by 3553(c), yet it appears to be a "factor" on which the downward departure was based. The statutory framework is unclear as to whether a reviewing court may consider "factors" that are not discussed in the written statement of reasons when making determinations under subsection (3)(B). As the written statement of reasons is also crucial to our determination under subsection (3)(C) regarding the degree of the departure,16 we conclude that we must require clarification from the district court of its reasoning in any event, which in turn requires a remand.
In any event, we cannot resolve the uncertainty from the court's written statement, and we decline to proceed without a clearer understanding of the district court's reasons. Even under the deferential abuse-of-discretion standard required under subsection (3)(C), we must have enough information to determine what conclusions the district court reached, before we can decide whether the sentence imposed was within the proper exercise of the sentencer's discretion. We therefore vacate Bell's sentence and remand her case to the district court to clarify its reasoning.
The original panel opinion in this case issued November 20, 2003. The government filed a petition for rehearing en banc, contending that we had misconstrued the new standard of review provisions contained in the Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to end the Exploitation of Children Today Act of 2003 — the PROTECT Act — Pub.L. 108-21, 117 Stat. 650 (April 30, 2003). The arguments contained in that petition, combined with subsequent interpretations of the PROTECT Act by other circuits, have convinced us that revisions to our discussion of the PROTECT Act's new standard of review are appropriate. Accordingly, we withdraw our prior opinion, published atUnited States v. Bell, 351 F.3d 672 (5th Cir.2003), and substitute this one, albeit our judgment in Ms. Bell's case remains the same.
Pub.L. 108-21, 117 Stat. 650 (April 30, 2003)
844 F.2d 209, 211 (5th Cir.1988)
See, e.g., Miller v. Florida, 482 U.S. 423, 430, 107 S.Ct. 2446, 96 L.Ed.2d 351 (1987)("[N]o ex post facto violation occurs if a change does not alter `substantial personal rights,' but merely changes `modes of procedure which do not affect matters of substance.'" quoting Dobbert v. Florida, 432 U.S. 282, 293, 97 S.Ct. 2290, 53 L.Ed.2d 344 (1977)); Lindh v. Murphy, 521 U.S. 320, 327, 117 S.Ct. 2059, 138 L.Ed.2d 481 (1997)(noting that if the statute at issue "were merely procedural in a strict sense (say, setting deadlines for filing and disposition ...), the natural expectation would be that it would apply to pending cases.") (citation omitted).
See, e.g., United States v. Mallon, 345 F.3d 943, 946-47 (7th Cir.2003); United States v. Willey, 350 F.3d 736, 738-39 (8th Cir.2003).
Although the Eighth Circuit, inUnited States v. Hutman, 339 F.3d 773 (8th Cir.2003), simply applied the de novo standard summarily, it did cite to Mejia, indicating that the procedural/substantive distinction was the basis for that part of its holding.
358 F.3d 51, 71-72 (1st Cir.2004) (citation, footnote omitted)
See United States v. Harris, 293 F.3d 863, 871 (5th Cir.2002) ("We review a district court's departure from the range established by the Guidelines for abuse of discretion.... The district court's decision is accorded substantial deference because it is a fact intensive assessment and the district court's findings of fact are reviewed for clear error.") (citation omitted).
The Act also requiresde novo review of the question whether the district court "failed to provide the written statement of reasons required by section 3553(c)." 18 U.S.C. § 3742(e)(3)(A). The district court did provide such a written statement of reasons in the instant case (although there is some question as to its adequacy, which is discussed in section II.B.2, infra), so subsection (e)(3)(A) is inapplicable.
See, e.g., United States v. Mallon, 345 F.3d 943, 946 (7th Cir.2003); United States v. Jones, 332 F.3d 1294, 1299 (10th Cir.2003).
U.S. v. Thurston, 358 F.3d 51 (1st Cir.2004).
We note also that, as a practical matter, when determinations under subsection (3)(B)(i) and (ii) are necessary —i.e., where the factor on which the departure was based has not already been approved by the Sentencing Commission — review under these subsections becomes almost nonsensical under the Act's new framework. Specifically, it seems impossible to determine whether a departure advances the objectives set forth in section 3553(a)(2), which include reflecting the seriousness of the offense, providing adequate deterrence, and providing the defendant with adequate correctional treatment, without considering the degree of the departure and the actual sentence imposed. The degree of departure, however, is to be reviewed only for abuse of discretion under subsection (3)(C), by the express language of the Act. If the degree of the departure is considered in any substantive way while making determinations under subsection (3)(B), we would effectively be expanding de novo review to the degree of the departure, thus rendering review under subsection (3)(C) superfluous and contradicting the express statutory directive.
18 U.S.C. § 3742(e)(3)(C) indicates that we should consider "the reasons for the imposition of the particular sentence, as stated by the district court pursuant to the provisions of section 3553(c)."
Even though the government continues to contest the downward departure, it conceded during the sentencing hearing that it "[did not] doubt that [Bell's] being overmedicated by the psychotropic drugs that she was taking is a factor in this case ..."
U.S.S.G. § 4A1.3(b)(1)
As was the case inThames, a downward departure under U.S.S.G. § 5K2.13 is not available to Bell because her crime involved a "serious threat of violence."