Opinion ID: 77253
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Whether Massey Acted Willfully

Text: 13 Massey argues that her lack of Zoloft and ingestion of heroin left her without the capacity to willfully obstruct justice. The government responds that Massey failed to object to the willful component of U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1 in the PSI or at the sentencing hearing and therefore has not preserved that issue for appeal. As such, the government argues that this objection should be reviewed under the plain error standard. 14 We have held that, for a defendant to preserve an objection to her sentence for appeal, she must raise that point in such clear and simple language that the trial court may not misunderstand it. United States v. Riggs, 967 F.2d 561, 565 (11th Cir.1992). When the statement is not clear enough to inform the district court of the legal basis for the objection, we have held that the objection is not properly preserved. Id. The defendant also fails to preserve a legal issue for appeal if the factual predicates of an objection are included in the sentencing record, but were presented to the district court under a different legal theory. See United States v. Reyes-Vasquez, 905 F.2d 1497, 1499-1500 (11th Cir.1990). 15 Here, the record shows that Massey's attorney, in objecting to the enhancement for obstruction of justice, repeatedly referenced the effect of Zoloft and heroin on her mental state during her stay in the hospital. In so doing, he did not specifically utter the words intent or  mens rea,  and he often referred to the fact that there was no material hindrance, a different legal theory from willfulness, when discussing this issue. See R1-45 at unnumbered 2; R4 at 4-9. Nevertheless, we believe, in reviewing the record in its entirety, that the issue of Massey's mental state at the time of the attempted concealment, and, therefore, her capacity to commit the obstruction of justice, was adequately presented to the district court. Thus, we review the issue for clear error. 16 Here, there is no clear error. Section 3C1.1 of the Sentencing Guidelines is entitled Obstructing or Impeding the Administration of Justice: 17 If (A) the defendant willfully obstructed or impeded, or attempted to obstruct or impede, the administration of justice during the course of the investigation, prosecution, or sentencing of the instant offence of conviction, and (B) the obstructive conduct related to (i) the defendant's offense of conviction and any relevant conduct; or (ii) a closely related offense, increase the offense level by 2 levels. 18 We have interpreted willfully . . . to mean the defendant must consciously act with the purpose of obstructing justice. United States v. Revel, 971 F.2d 656, 661 (11th Cir.1992) (quotations omitted); see also United States v. Burton, 933 F.2d 916, 918 (11th Cir.1991) (per curiam) (citing United States v. Garcia, 909 F.2d 389, 392 (9th Cir.1990) for the proposition that [§] 3C1.1 was intended to apply to `something different from the instinctive flight of a suspect who suddenly finds himself in the power of the police'). 19 Rather than an instinctive or spontaneous reaction to an impending arrest, the uncontroverted facts demonstrate that Massey consciously acted with the purpose of obstructing justice. Massey entered the hospital with three objects inside her body. The objects contained heroin. While at the hospital, she hid two of the objects in her pillow. She also attempted to create an additional hiding place inside her mattress. With the exception of a few violent outbursts early in her hospital stay, Massey appeared lucid and deliberate. She resisted the officers when they attempted to handcuff her other arm, which would have prevented her from hiding the remaining object inside her body. Moreover, she did not have a heroin overdose until after she had hidden the first two objects. It does not appear that she ingested a substantial amount of heroin, if any, until she broke the covering of the third object that remained inside her, which triggered this overdose. Massey put forward no scientific evidence regarding the effect of the absence of Zoloft and the presence of heroin on her bipolar mental state. For these reasons, there is no clear error because Massey's actions were willful within the meaning of § 3C1.1. 20