Opinion ID: 197582
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: the reasonableness of the departure

Text: 43 Having determined that the stated grounds are legally and factually sufficient to support the sentencing court's decision to depart, our final task is to assay the degree of departure. The yardstick is reasonableness. See United States v. Quinones, 26 F.3d 213, 219 (1st Cir.1994); United States v. Diaz-Villafane, 874 F.2d 43, 49 (1st Cir.1989); see also 18 U.S.C. § 3742(e)(3) (1994). This criterion requires us to consider not only the trial court's reasons for departing, see 18 U.S.C. § 3742(e)(3)(B), but also the overall aggregate of known circumstances pertaining to the offense of conviction and to the offender who committed it, United States v. Ocasio, 914 F.2d 330, 337 (1st Cir.1990). Furthermore, we must determine whether a sentencing court that purports to undertake a so-called horizontal departure, 8 such as a criminal history departure under section 4A1.3, has fulfilled its guideline-imposed obligation to evaluate adjacent criminal history categories in sequence. See, e.g., Pratt, 73 F.3d at 453 (concluding that a court seeking to depart pursuant to section 4A1.3 must determine that the offender's criminal history is similar to the criminal histories of defendants in the CHC to which the court wishes to migrate); Aymelek, 926 F.2d at 70 (explaining that section 4A1.3 departures require the use of analogies by, in effect, moving from one criminal history category to another); see also United States v. Tropiano, 50 F.3d 157, 162 (2d Cir.1995) (holding that, under section 4A1.3, a court is required to proceed[ ] 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). Because a sentencing court has first-hand exposure to the accused and a more intimate knowledge of the circumstances upon which the decision to depart is premised, appellate courts should disturb determinations implicating degrees of departure only if it clearly appears that the sentencing court abused its considerable discretion. See Diaz-Villafane, 874 F.2d at 49-50. 44 In this instance, the court leapfrogged over CHC IV and departed from CHC III to CHC V, thereby upgrading the GSR from a maximum of 41 months to a maximum of 63 months. It then imposed a 63-month sentence. The court reasoned that this incarcerative term, followed by three years of supervised release, would accomplish two things: it would ensure judicial supervision of the appellant's activities until his youngest son was old enough to leave home, and it would appropriately reflect both the seriousness of the appellant's criminality and the concomitant risk of recidivism. We find nothing unacceptable in the extent of the departure. 45 At the threshold, we dismiss out of hand the appellant's suggestion that the district court failed adequately to explain its reasons for selecting a departure of this magnitude. The requirement that courts departing horizontally must look to adjacent criminal history categories in sequence is important, but it is not to be construed in a robotic manner. See Aymelek, 926 F.2d at 70. Here, though the court did not explicitly discuss the inadequacy of CHC IV, it made the rationale for its choice of CHC V transparently clear. Moreover, the court's explanation of why a sentence available under CHC V satisfied its concerns--particularly its concern about Mrs. Brewster's welfare in relation to the childrens' ages--served de facto as an explanation of why CHC IV would not suffice. Accordingly, the explanation substantially complies with the requirement contained in section 4A1.3. 46 The appellant's related claim that the extent of departure is draconian deserves scant comment. The court departed upward by 22 months to a point approximately 50% above the maximum allowed under the original GSR. We are mindful that sentencing courts have substantial leeway regarding degrees of departure. See United States v. Rivera, 994 F.2d 942, 950 (1st Cir.1993); Aymelek, 926 F.2d at 69 (citing United States v. Aguilar-Pena, 887 F.2d 347, 350 (1st Cir.1989)); Diaz-Villafane, 874 F.2d at 52. Although the extent of the departure in the instant case is substantial, we believe that the departure-justifying circumstances and the extent of the departure are in reasonable balance. No more is exigible. See United States v. Harotunian, 920 F.2d 1040, 1045-46 (1st Cir.1990); see also United States v. Hardy, 99 F.3d 1242, 1253 (1st Cir.1996) (affirming upward departure of 300% based in part on defendant's persistent ten-year history of violent anti-social behavior).