Opinion ID: 727816
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Downward Departure: AIDS

Text: 20 Borkowski argues the court erred in refusing to grant a downward departure under § 5H1.4 for an extraordinary physical impairment. Borkowski has been diagnosed with symptomatic HIV disease. Because, he argues, only treatments approved by the Food and Drug Administration are available through the Bureau of Prisons, incarceration will deny him experimental treatments which could prolong his life. He argues also that because he is intolerant to the drugs dispensed by the Bureau of Prisons, he will, in effect, receive no treatment. 21 Before the court may exercise its discretion to depart from the guideline range on the basis of extraordinary physical impairment, the court must first find the defendant has such an impairment. The court found Borkowski did not. This is an essentially factual mixed question of law and fact reviewable for clear error. See United States v. Martinez-Gonzales, 962 F.2d 874, 878 (9th Cir.1992). 22 For the reasons stated by the court at the sentencing hearing, the court's finding was not clearly erroneous. No evidence was presented that Borkowski's condition was especially debilitating, or that he was bedridden, nor was any evidence submitted on his life expectancy. The evidence that the Bureau of Prisons would not provide any treatment for Borkowski's condition was unpersuasive. 23 Although Borkowski argued he required treatment unavailable 3 through the Bureau of Prisons, the evidence presented on this point was sparse. It was not clear error for the court to find Borkowski did not have an extraordinary physical impairment. Because the court correctly determined Borkowski had not proved he had an extraordinary physical impairment, the court lacked discretion to grant a downward departure. United States v. Martinez-Guerrerro, 987 F.2d 618, 621 (9th Cir.1993). Thus, there was no error in refusing to grant a downward departure. 24