Opinion ID: 2998005
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Correction of Sentence

Text: Rule 35(a) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure provides that “[w]ithin 7 days after sentencing, the court may correct a sentence that resulted from arithmetical, technical, or other clear error.” FED. R. CRIM. P. 35(a). Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 45(b)(2) further states: “The court may not extend the time to take any action under Rules 29, 33, 34, and 35, except as stated in those rules.” There is no provision in Rule 35 for an extension of the seven-day period for correcting a sentence. The Supreme Court has held that these rules operate to deprive the court of authority to act after the time period specified in the rule has elapsed. See Carlisle v. United States, 517 U.S. 416, 428 (1996) (district courts have no “inherent power” to act in contravention of applicable rules of procedure). No. 03-3721 11 The district court sentenced Baldwin on October 2, 2003. Excluding two intermediate weekends (as Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 45(a) requires), the seven-day period for correcting the court’s “clear error”—and there is no dispute that the 78-month sentences constituted clear error— ended on October 13, 2003. The court had no authority to correct Baldwin’s sentence beyond that date. We therefore vacate the revised sentence imposed on January 16, 2004, and remand for resentencing.3