Opinion ID: 691961
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Horizontal Departures Under Sec. 4A1.3

Text: 37 When departing horizontally under U.S.S.G. Sec. 4A1.3 for criminal history, the court must state its reasons both for departing and, with some specificity, for the extent of [the] departure. United States v. Stevens, 985 F.2d 1175, 1185 (2d Cir.1993). The court meets this requirement by proceeding sequentially from the criminal history category determined by the defendant's criminal history point score through each higher criminal history category until it settles upon a category that fits the defendant. See id.; United States v. Jakobetz, 955 F.2d 786, 806 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 104, 121 L.Ed.2d 63 (1992). Along the way, the district court must pause at each category to consider whether that category adequately reflects the seriousness of the defendant's record. Only upon finding a category inadequate may the court proceed to the next category. See United States v. Coe, 891 F.2d 405, 412 (2d Cir.1989). Once the court finds a category that fits, it must  'use the corresponding sentencing range for that category'  to guide the departure. Id. (quoting United States v. Cervantes, 878 F.2d 50, 53 (2d Cir.1989)); see U.S.S.G. Sec. 4A1.3 (In considering a departure under this provision, the Commission intends that the court use, as a reference, the guideline range for a defendant with a higher or lower criminal history category, as applicable.). 38 We have on occasion criticized this procedure as rigid and mechanistic. See United States v. Thomas, 6 F.3d 960, 964-65 (2d Cir.1993); United States v. Rodriguez, 968 F.2d 130, 140 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 113 S.Ct. 140, 121 L.Ed.2d 92 (1992). Indeed, we have refused to require it for offense level departures, known as vertical departures, including those under U.S.S.G. Sec. 5K2.0 for aggravating circumstances of a kind, or to a degree, not adequately taken into consideration by the Sentencing Commission in formulating the guidelines. See United States v. Campbell, 967 F.2d 20, 25-26 (2d Cir.1992) (involving U.S.S.G. Sec. 2L1.2, but discussing Sec. 5K2.0); see also United States v. Hernandez, 941 F.2d 133, 140-41 (2d Cir.1991) (upholding 5K2.0 departure, even though step-by-step procedure not followed). Nonetheless, a district court cannot avoid this step-by-step framework by classifying a departure based on criminal history as [an offense level departure] involving aggravating circumstances under 5K2.0. United States v. Deutsch, 987 F.2d 878, 887 (2d Cir.1993). 39 Deutsch is almost squarely on point. There, the district court failed to state the section number upon which it relied to make its upward departure. Id. Although the district court gave every indication that it was making a 5K2.0 departure, it based its departure on [the defendant's] criminal record and likelihood of recidivism. Id. We held that [t]hese factors are exactly those to be considered under Section 4A1.3 when departing horizontally for criminal history, and could not form the basis for a 5K2.0 departure. Id. 40 Here, in granting the government's motion for a 5K2.0 departure, the district court emphasized that Tropiano was a confirmed recidivist at the peak of his criminal career who had to be sentenced primarily for incapacitation. The court also announced that Tropiano had to be incarcerated for as long as the law permitted because he will continue to be a danger to the community until his energy as a criminal decreases, and that [a] person like this continues to be a danger, serious danger up to about the age of 40. 41 These concerns are the core concept of criminal history, and fall squarely under Sec. 4A1.3. See Deutsch, 987 F.2d at 887 (concerns over recidivism and incapacitation fall under Sec. 4A1.3, not Sec. 5K2.0); Coe, 891 F.2d at 411. But, while the record reflects the district court's understandable concerns over Tropiano's criminal history, it conspicuously lacks any reference to the detailed procedure for making horizontal departures that we outlined in Deutsch, 987 F.2d at 886-88, Jakobetz, 955 F.2d at 806, Coe, 891 F.2d at 412-13, and Cervantes, 878 F.2d at 55. Instead, the district court, in one leap, jumped vertically seven offense levels, resulting in a sentencing range that, had the district court proceeded step-by-step horizontally, would have exceeded what even a Category VI criminal history would have allowed. The district court did precisely what Deutsch proscribed: circumvent the strictures of a Sec. 4A1.3 horizontal departure by treating criminal history concerns as aggravating circumstances that affect offense level under Sec. 5K2.0. This it may not do. See Deutsch, 987 F.2d at 887. 42 We are aware that other circuits have not adopted so rigid a demarcation between 4A1.3 and 5K2.0 departures, and those circuits will affirm 5K2.0 departures based on criminal history concerns. See, e.g., United States v. Schmeltzer, 20 F.3d 610, 613 (5th Cir.) (affirming 5K2.0 departure based on prior convictions for a very similar offense), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 634, 130 L.Ed.2d 540 (1994); United States v. Nomeland, 7 F.3d 744, 747-48 (8th Cir.1993) (affirming 5K2.0 departure based on defendant's extensive and violent criminal activity); United States v. Molina, 952 F.2d 514, 518-19 (D.C.Cir.1992) (similarity of offense of conviction to prior offenses permissible basis for a 5K2.0 departure). We conclude, however, that it is too late in the day in this Circuit for a panel to hold that 5K2.0 departures encompass criminal history concerns, as well.