Opinion ID: 695267
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Retroactive Application of U.S.S.G. Sec. 2S1.3

Text: 55 Finally, Vazquez asks this Court to direct the district court to resentence him according to the modified version of U.S.S.G. Sec. 2S1.3. Since Vazquez's sentencing, Sec. 2S1.3 has been amended to lower both the base offense level of his offense from thirteen to six and the criminally derived property adjustment from four to two. See U.S.S.G. Sec. 2S1.3 (1993). 56 Both the relevant federal statute and the Sentencing Guidelines provide that a court has the discretion to decide whether to retroactively apply an amended Guideline to reduce the length of incarceration. Under 18 U.S.C.A. Sec. 3582(c)(2) (West Supp.1994), if a defendant was sentenced according to a sentencing range that subsequently has been lowered by the Sentencing Commission, a court may reduce the term of imprisonment ... if such a reduction is consistent with applicable policy statements issued by the Sentencing Commission. The relevant policy statement, U.S.S.G. Sec. 1B1.10, p.s. (1993), states that when a Guideline range is lowered as a result of one of the enumerated amendments in subsection (d) of Sec. 1B1.10, a reduction in the defendant's term of imprisonment may be considered. U.S.S.G. Sec. 1B1.10(a). Amendment 490, which modified Sec. 2S1.3, is one of the specified amendments covered by this policy statement. See U.S.S.G. Sec. 1B1.10(d). 57 Vazquez requests that we follow the approach taken in United States v. Park, 951 F.2d 634, 635-36 (5th Cir.1992). In Park, the court, also faced with the question of whether to retroactively apply an amendment listed in section 1B1.10(d), held that the amendment should be applied retroactively under the facts of that case and remanded the case to the district court for resentencing under the newer version of the Guideline. Id. at 636. 58 We decline to follow Park to the extent it suggests that this Court should determine in the first instance on appeal whether Vazquez is entitled to retroactive application of the amended version of a Sentencing Guideline. Instead, we follow the approach adopted in United States v. Marcello, 13 F.3d 752, 756-58, 761 (3rd Cir.1994); United States v. Coohey, 11 F.3d 97, 101 (8th Cir.1993); United States v. Wales, 977 F.2d 1323, 1327-28 (9th Cir.1992); and United States v. Connell, 960 F.2d 191, 197 (1st Cir.1992). In those cases, the other circuits did not vacate the defendant's sentence, but remanded to the district court to determine in its discretion whether or not an adjustment was warranted in light of an ameliorative amendment. As the First Circuit explained: 59 [W]hile [the defendant] is not necessarily entitled to a reduction in the offense level--section 1B1.10(a) does not mandate the use of the lesser enhancement, but merely affords the sentencing court discretion to utilize it--he is entitled to have his sentence reviewed in light of the amendment. 60 When, after a defendant has been sentenced, a guideline amendment occurs under circumstances in which the defendant becomes eligible for, but not automatically entitled to, a reduced sentence, we think it is preferable that the matter of sentence reduction be considered in the first instance by the sentencing court, not by an appellate court. 61 Connell, 960 F.2d at 197. 62 Because both 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3582 and U.S.S.G. Sec. 1B1.10 give a court discretion to determine whether to retroactively apply a new Guideline that would reduce a defendant's sentence, we agree with the First, Third, Eighth, and Ninth Circuits that the district court, not an appellate court, should be the initial forum to exercise that discretion. To us, this conclusion makes sense, because when a district court is given the discretion to make a choice, there will be occasions in which we affirm the district court even though we would have gone the other way had it been our call. In re Rasbury, 24 F.3d 159, 168 (11th Cir.1994) (discussing parameters of abuse of discretion standard of review). 63 Therefore, we remand this case to the district court so that it may consider whether to retroactively apply Sec. 2S1.3 and resentence Vazquez under the amended version of that Guideline. Although a defendant must ordinarily petition the district court for modification of his sentence under Sec. 1B1.10, see 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3582(c)(2), because Vazquez raised the sentencing issue on appeal, we find it unnecessary to require him to take this additional step. See Marcello, 13 F.3d at 756 n. 3; Wales, 977 F.2d at 1328 n. 3; Connell, 960 F.2d at 197 n. 10.