Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/963/132/243557/
Timestamp: 2019-10-19 09:48:40
Document Index: 326625752

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 4', '§ 1', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 1', '§ 4', '§ 4', '§ 4']

United States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. John D. Rasco, Defendant-appellant, 963 F.2d 132 (6th Cir. 1992) :: Justia
Justia › US Law › Case Law › Federal Courts › Courts of Appeals › Sixth Circuit › 1992 › United States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. John D. Rasco, Defendant-appellant
United States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. John D. Rasco, Defendant-appellant, 963 F.2d 132 (6th Cir. 1992)
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit - 963 F.2d 132 (6th Cir. 1992) Argued March 26, 1992. Decided May 1, 1992
In the present appeal, we address the narrow issue of whether detention in a halfway house or community treatment center upon revocation of a defendant's parole constitutes a sentence of incarceration within the meaning of section 4A1.2(e) (1) of the federal sentencing guidelines. See United States Sentencing Commission, Guidelines Manual, § 4A1.2(e) (1) (Nov.1991). Because we conclude that the district court correctly held that defendant's halfway house residency upon revocation of his parole fell within the ambit of that provision, we affirm.
The presentence report recommended that Rasco be assigned three criminal history points for his sentence on the stolen-securities conviction pursuant to section 4A1.1 of the guidelines. Rasco objected on the ground that, because he had been released from imprisonment on that sentence in 1973, the sentence was completed more than fifteen years prior to his commission of the instant offense and, therefore, was excluded from his criminal history score pursuant to section 4A1.2(e) (1).
Rasco's objection to the counting of his stolen-securities conviction under the sentencing guidelines challenges the district court's application of the guidelines to the undisputed facts of his case. Because the proper interpretation of the guidelines is an issue of law, our review is de novo. United States v. Edgecomb, 910 F.2d 1309, 1311 (6th Cir. 1990).
The sentencing guidelines direct the district court to determine the defendant's criminal history score in accordance with the provisions of Chapter Four. U.S.S.G. § 1B1.1(f). Section 4A1.2 defines many of the terms used elsewhere in Chapter Four and instructs the court on the manner in which the defendant's criminal history score is to be calculated. The dispute in this case concerns the proper interpretation of section 4A1.2(e), which sets forth the time period within which a prior sentence must have been imposed or served to fall within the criminal history calculation. Section 4A1.2(e) (1) provides as follows:
Id. § 4A1.2(e) (1).
The United States contends that Rasco's stolen-securities conviction should be counted under the second sentence of section 4A1.2(e) (1) due to his halfway house residency from July 8, 1980 to October 24, 1980. Although Rasco was released from his stolen securities incarceration in 1973 and thereafter placed on parole, he violated this parole in 1975 and first began serving his sentence on the parole violation on July 8, 1980. Thus, argues the United States, because Rasco was serving a sentence based upon the stolen-securities conviction and sentence within fifteen years of his commission of the present offense, that sentence should be counted under the second sentence of section 4A1.2(e) (1).
Rasco points out, however, that section 4A1.2(e) (1) applies only to sentences exceeding thirteen months that "resulted in the defendant being incarcerated" during the fifteen years preceding the current crime. Id. § 4A1.2(e) (1) (emphasis added). Rasco argues that, because his detention in a halfway house upon the revocation of his parole did not constitute "incarceration" within the meaning of section 4A1.2(e) (1), that section does not permit the counting of his earlier stolen-securities sentence.
The guidelines do not expressly address whether residency in a halfway house or community treatment center constitutes imprisonment for purposes of Chapter Four.2 While section 4A1.2(b) (1) explains that " [t]he term 'sentence of imprisonment' means a sentence of incarceration," id. § 4A1.2(b) (1), the guidelines neither define "incarceration" nor state whether detention in a halfway house or community treatment center constitutes "incarceration" for purposes of computing a defendant's criminal history score. Rather than presuming the guidelines' silence on this point to have been merely an oversight in drafting, we prefer to view this apparent lacuna in the guidelines as indicative of the Sentencing Commission's intent that the sentencing court adopt a functional approach to resolving this issue, one that focuses on the reason for the defendant's detention, rather than an approach focusing exclusively on the place of the defendant's detention.
(B) Revocation of probation, parole, supervised release, special parole, or mandatory release may affect the time period under which certain sentences are counted as provided in § 4A1.2(d) (2) and (e). For the purposes of determining the applicable time period, use the following: (i) in the case of an adult term of imprisonment totaling more than one year and one month, the date of last release from incarceration on such sentence (see § 4A1.2(e) (1)); ... and (iii) in any other case, the date of the original sentence (see § 4A1.2(d) (2) (B) and (e) (2)).
On this view, the sentencing court must count a defendant's parole violation as part of the sentence originally imposed upon the substantive crime of conviction rather than as a separate and distinct sentence requiring separate counting under section 4A1.1(a), (b), or (c). This view has been adopted by other courts of appeals as well. See, e.g., United States v. Cornog, 945 F.2d 1504, 1510 (11th Cir. 1991) (" [T]he [sentencing] court ordinarily should count a conviction that is imposed, and on which the defendant is paroled, outside the window, when the defendant later--within the window--is incarcerated for breaching the conditions of his parole."); United States v. Harrington, 923 F.2d 1371, 1375-76 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S. Ct. 164, 116 L. Ed. 2d 128 (1991); United States v. Gardner, 905 F.2d 1432, 1439 n. 5 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S. Ct. 202, 112 L. Ed. 2d 163 (1990).
To summarize, the approach we adopt today requires the sentencing court to view a defendant's residence in a halfway house or community treatment center upon revocation of parole as part of the original term of imprisonment. Thus, while the sentence imposed upon revocation should not be counted separately under section 4A1.1, the sentencing court is required to count an otherwise untimely conviction or sentence where the defendant serves the sentence imposed upon revocation of the parole within the time limits set forth in section 4A1.2(e). Applying our holding to Rasco's sentence, we conclude that the district court correctly counted his stolen securities conviction in computing his criminal history score. Although Rasco was released on parole on the sentence in 1973, that parole was revoked, resulting in Rasco's detention from July to October of 1980. Because Rasco served this sentence within fifteen years of the commission of his current crime, section 4A1.2(e) (1) requires that Rasco's stolen-securities conviction be counted.
We recognize that this interpretation arguably conflicts with the background commentary to section 4A1.1. Section 4A1.1 distinguishes between sentences of imprisonment exceeding one year and one month (subsection (a)), sentences of imprisonment of at least sixty days (subsection (b)), and all other sentences (subsection (c)). The background commentary explains that " [s]ubdivisions (a), (b), and (c) of § 4A1.1 distinguish confinement sentences longer than one year and one month, shorter confinement sentences of at least sixty days, and all other sentences, such as confinement sentences of less than sixty days, probation, fines, and residency in a halfway house." U.S.S.G. § 4A1.1, comment. (backg'd). This commentary seems to equate confinement sentences with sentences of imprisonment and distinguish both from residency in a halfway house. We do not read this commentary, however, as categorically excluding detention in a halfway house from the definition of a "sentence of incarceration" for purposes of computing the applicable time period under section 4A1.2(e), nor do we read it as excluding halfway house placement from the definition of a "sentence of imprisonment" under section 4A1.2(k). Such an interpretation would elevate the importance of a defendant's place of detention over the reason for which the detention was imposed, thereby frustrating the position of section 4A1.2(k), that a sentence imposed upon revocation of parole be added to the original sentence regardless of where that sentence is served. To the extent that the commentary to section 4A1.1 conflicts with the mandates of section 4A1.2(k), we conclude that section 4A1.2(k) controls.
We also decline the parties' invitation to resolve the issue before us on the basis of two prior dispositions of this court, United States v. Jalili, 925 F.2d 889 (6th Cir. 1991), and United States v. Strozier, 940 F.2d 985 (6th Cir. 1991). Jalili and Strozier both addressed the definition of incarceration and imprisonment under section 5C1.1 of the guidelines. The guidelines, however, caution against attempting to achieve definitional coherence across numerous provisions, and explicitly provide that, while " [d]efinitions of terms also may appear in other sections [,].... [s]uch definitions are not designed for general applicability; therefore, their applicability to sections other than those expressly referenced must be determined on a case by case basis." U.S.S.G. § 1B1.1, comment. (n. 2). Accordingly, we do not find Jalili and Strozier apposite to the issue before us.
At oral argument, counsel for the defendant argued that § 4A1.2(k) is expressly limited to sentences of thirteen months or less and pointed for support to the first sentence of the commentary to note eleven of this section, which states that " [s]ection 4A1.2(k) covers revocations of probation and other conditional sentences where the original term of imprisonment imposed, if any, did not exceed one year and one month." U.S.S.G. § 4A1.2, comment. (n. 11). This language, however, was clearly not meant to exclude sentences of greater than thirteen months from the strictures of § 4A1.2(k). Indeed, the commentary expressly covers longer sentences, stating that, " [i]f the sentence originally imposed ... exceeded one year and one month, the maximum three points would be assigned." Id
U.S.S.G. app. E at 5 (ex. D.5) (Dec.1987); see also United States v. Vanderlaan, 921 F.2d 257, 260 n. 3 (10th Cir. 1990) (citing this example with approval), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S. Ct. 1429, 113 L. Ed. 2d 481 (1991). Although this illustration was not officially adopted by the Sentencing Commission, it gives added force to the position we consider correct--namely, that the court should focus upon the purpose of the detention rather than upon the place at which the sentence is served.