Opinion ID: 3064204
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Special verdict forms

Text: Even if the 2006 manual with the 2001 Tax Table applies, King proffers three reasons the district court improperly determined the amount of loss: (1) the jury did not return a special verdict; (2) the district court did not make a reasonable estimate of loss based on the available facts; and (3) the district court held King responsible for the 1998 and 2000 tax years despite not being prosecuted for 1998 and being acquitted of the year 2000 charge. Each claim lacks merit. First, the district court did not err in making its own finding on the amount of loss instead of directing the jury to return a special verdict. “[T]he sentencing Guidelines require a district court, at the sentencing stage, to make independent findings establishing the factual basis for its Guidelines calculations.” See United States v. Hamaker, 455 F.3d 1316, 1338 (11th Cir. 2006). “The district court should . . . assess[] independently the relevant loss for sentencing purposes rather than deferring to the jury’s view of the scope of Appellants’ guilt . . . .” Id. 22 King does not argue that different versions of the Sentencing Guidelines manual should be used for his three crimes. In any event, the Sentencing Guidelines manual contains what is known as the “one book rule,” which requires that a single manual govern a defendant’s sentencing calculation in its entirety. Bailey, 123 F.3d at 1404. Moreover, the Sentencing Guidelines manual itself provides, “If the defendant is convicted of two offenses, the first committed before, and the second after, a revised edition of the Guidelines Manual became effective, the revised edition of the Guidelines Manual is to be applied to both offenses.” U.S.S.G. § 1B1.11(b)(3). As such, the district court also did not err in applying the 2001 Tax Table in determining King’s sentences for crimes committed between 1999 and 2002. 39 Second, the evidence at trial fully supports the district court’s findings that the tax loss amount from King’s offenses exceeded $400,000.23 For example, King’s second returns for 1999 through 2002 are in evidence and alone show tax losses of $473,090. The district court aptly stated that “just on the basis of the returns which essentially he filed himself, he has established he is in excess of the $400,000 base by $162,649.” The district court explained that it was relying on the trial evidence in finding that it was “satisfied that there is certainly sufficient evidence to satisfy the burden which is a preponderance of the evidence.” This clearly constitutes a reasonable estimate of loss based on the record. Third, the district court did not err in including the monies owed for the nonprosecution year of 1998 and the acquitted year of 2000 in its final estimate of amount owed. It is well established that a sentencing court may consider uncharged and acquitted conduct in determining an appropriate sentence. Id. at 1336; United States v. Hasson, 333 F.3d 1264, 1279 n.19 (11th Cir. 2003).