Opinion ID: 2997816
Heading Depth: 6
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: (2) or (a)(4).

Text: Here, the death of Emily Antkowicz qualifies as related conduct pursuant to § 1B1.3(a)(1)(B) because it is an act in furtherance of jointly undertaken criminal activity “that 21 occurred . . . in preparation for that offense.” The bomb 21 Mr. Soy does not deny that the bomb that killed Emily Antkowicz was detonated in preparation for carrying out the scheme of diversionary bombings. Mr. Soy merely states “under the express wording of Subsection(a)(2) the 844(i) charges do not (continued...) 36 No. 03-3438 & No. 04-1218 detonated at 1425 Stanton was jointly undertaken criminal activity. Furthermore, the purpose of detonating that bomb was to gauge the response time of emergency personnel in preparation for the scheme of diversionary bombings. The bombing, therefore, was “in preparation” for the series for bombings. Mr. Soy also relies upon Ojomo. In Ojomo, we considered whether the defendant could be held accountable for “uncharged, unproven ‘related conduct’ at sentencing.” 332 F.3d at 489. In that case, we determined that the district court did not err in holding the defendant responsible because it was clear that the “ ‘unconvicted activities bore the necessary relation to the convicted offense.’ ” Id. (quoting United States v. Smith, 218 F.3d 777, 783 (7th Cir. 2000)). We fail to see how Ojomo assists Mr. Soy. Mr. Soy was not held responsible for uncharged, unproven conduct that was related in some tangential way to the conspiracy for which he was convicted. Rather he was charged with, and convicted of, the § 844(i) violation that resulted in the death of Emily Antkowicz. The conviction later was vacated, not because there was insufficient evidence to establish that Mr. Soy was involved in the bombing or that the bombing did not cause the death of Emily Antkowicz, but only because the requisite nexus to interstate commerce was missing. Thus, Ojomo does not speak to the situation before us. For these reasons, we do not believe that the district court erred in determining that the death of Emily Antkowicz constituted conduct relevant to the charged conspiracy. 21 (...continued) require grouping. Therefore, all acts set forth in Subsections 1(a) and 1(b) are inapplicable. Finally, because both Subsections 1(a)(1) and 1(a)(2) are inapplicable, 1(a)(3) is likewise inapplicable.” Petitioner’s Br. (No. 03-3438) at 16. No. 03-3438 & No. 04-1218 37 (iii) propriety of the first degree murder reference Mr. Soy maintains that, even if the death of Emily Antkowicz constitutes relevant conduct, the district court erred nonetheless in cross-referencing the first degree murder guideline as opposed to one of the other guidelines in Chapter 2, Part A of the Guidelines. We disagree. This court twice has considered Mr. Soy’s contention that the first degree murder guideline is inapplicable to the death of Emily Antkowicz. In Prevatte I, we held that § 2A1.1 is the most analogous guideline when death results from a violation of § 844(i), regardless of whether the death occurred as a result of fire or as a result of an explosion. 16 F.3d at 782. However, because the district court had not considered the possibility of a departure based on the defendant’s state of mind as directed by the application note to § 2A1.1, we remanded the case to the district court for resentencing. The district court resentenced Mr. Soy to 636 months’ imprisonment on Count 2, to run concurrently with the sentences on the remainder of the counts. The sentence represented a slight departure based on Mr. Soy’s state of mind—extreme recklessness. Mr. Soy again sought review in this court and argued, inter alia, that, in light of the district court’s determination that the death of Emily Antkowicz was the result of Mr. Soy’s recklessness, the district court was obligated to cross-reference the guideline for second degree murder as opposed to that for first degree murder. Again we rejected this argument. We observed that our mandate was to “consider whether, on the facts of this case, a downward departure was warranted. The district court complied with our mandate when it considered the possibility of a lower sentence.” Prevatte II, 66 F.3d at 844. We also did not believe that the application note “cabin[ed] 38 No. 03-3438 & No. 04-1218 the discretion of the district court” to the degree suggested by Mr. Soy. Id. We explained that [t]he application note quite explicitly suggests that a departure below that prescribed for second degree murder or for the underlying offense is not likely to be appropriate. This notation is hardly a directive to the district court that any departure must, as a matter of law, reduce the sentence to the level of second degree murder. To hold that a departure must correspond to the base offense level stipulated in § 2A1.2, Second Degree Murder, every time the court finds that a defendant’s mental state was less than “intentionally or knowingly,” cf. U.S.S.G. § 2A1.1, comment. (n.1), would negate the congressional determination that death resulting from certain felonies, such as arson, should be punished not as second degree murder, but as first degree murder. . . . This analysis can be read as a determination by the district court that the defendants engaged in conduct that, although not premeditated, involved a high degree of recklessness and warranted punishment between the level that would be employed for premeditated murder and the level that would be employed for a murder committed recklessly but not in the aggravated manner exhibited here. Such a determination is clearly permissible under the congressional determination concerning the punishment of murder committed in the course of arson. The sentence corresponds to an offense level of 42, which provides that an individual be sentenced to “360 [months]-life.” 22 Id. at 844-45 (footnote omitted). 22 As noted above, in Prevatte II we remanded for resentencing for the district court to consider the impact of United States v. (continued...) No. 03-3438 & No. 04-1218 39 Mr. Soy now argues that because his conviction on Count 2—the substantive arson count resulting in the death of Emily Antkowicz—has been vacated, the district court’s cross-reference to the first degree murder guideline, and our prior approval of the use of that guideline, is no longer applicable. Again, we disagree. Although Count 2 has been vacated, we have set forth above how the death of Emily Antkowicz constitutes relevant conduct for purposes of the conspiracy count. The conspiracy guideline cross-references the guideline for the underlying substantive offense (arson), which, in turn, cross-references Chapter 2 of the Guidelines. The death of Emily Antkowicz occurred as the result of the commission of another felony—the conspiracy to commit arson. As explained in Prevatte I, the application of the first degree murder guideline, based on the analogy to the felony-murder rule, is appropriate. Furthermore, as set forth in Prevatte II, the district court’s finding that the defendant’s state of mind was extreme recklessness does not require the court to cross-reference the second degree murder guideline. Thus, the district court did not err in cross-referencing the first degree murder guideline.