Opinion ID: 2708454
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Wrong Guidelines

Text: The defendants first argue based on Peugh that, under the Ex Post Facto Clause, the district court was required to use the version of the Guidelines that was in effect at the time they committed those crimes. As noted above, under the Guidelines in effect at the time of the offenses, the advisory range would have been 121 to 151 months for Nelson and 97 to 121 months for Janet. Under the 2012 version of the Guidelines, the district court determined that their advisory sentence ranges were 210 to 262 months for Nelson and 135 to 168 months for Janet. Because the district court’s reliance on the more recent version of the Guidelines resulted in a higher combined offense level that was also used to determine their sentences on the failure to appear counts, the defendants contend that at least the 26 Nos. 12-3748, 12-3750, 12-3781, and 12-3787 sentence on that count must be vacated. And because the sentences the district court imposed for the failure to appear counts were determined in relation to the sentences it imposed on the conspiracy counts, they argue that the entire sentence should be vacated so that the district court can fashion a complete and coherent sentencing package. See United States v. Martenson, 178 F.3d 457, 462 (7th Cir. 1999) (“When one or more components of a defendant’s sentence are held to be illegal, trial judges are permitted to reevaluate the sentencing package in light of the changed circumstances and resentence the defendant to effectuate the original sentencing intent.”) (internal quotation marks omitted). In response, the government argues that, notwithstanding Peugh, the district court’s use of the newer version of the Guidelines did not violate the Ex Post Facto Clause. The government’s argument rests on the Guidelines’ “one-book rule.” That rule states that “[i]f 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). Essentially the same rule was contained in the 1998 Guidelines. The crime of failure to appear, the government notes, is a continuing offense. See United States v. McIntosh, 702 F.3d 381, 387 (7th Cir. 2012) (“Each day that he knowingly and wilfully continued to evade the service of his prison sentence violated the statute.”). Thus, the defendants continued to commit that offense until they were apprehended in May 2012, and under the one-book rule, the latter version of the Guidelines should apply. The government points out that in United States v. Vivit, this Court rejected Nos. 12-3748, 12-3750, 12-3781, and 12-3787 27 an ex post facto challenge to the application of the one-book rule where the defendant was sentenced for multiple offenses, one of which occurred after a higher guideline became effective. There the Court held that “[t]he grouping rules, enacted in 1987, provide warning to criminals that completing another criminal offense similar to one committed previously places them in peril of sentencing under a revised version of the Guidelines.” 214 F.3d 908, 919 (7th Cir. 2000). It likewise follows here, the government contends, that application of the newer version of the Guidelines in this case did not violate the defendants’ rights under the Ex Post Facto Clause. The defendants argue in reply that the government waived its argument under the one-book rule because it failed to present it in the district court. But of course, there was no need to make the argument in the district court because under thenexisting circuit precedent, use of the Guidelines in effect at the time of sentencing was not considered a violation of the Ex Post Facto Clause. It was only after the Supreme Court ruled otherwise in Peugh that the issue arose. A party does not waive an argument it does not make in the trial court which, under then-existing precedent, it had no reason to offer. The defendants also argue that McIntosh involved the crime of failure to surrender for service of a sentence, as opposed to the crime of failure to appear for sentencing and, further, that it did not involve a claimed ex post facto violation. We fail to see any principled reason why a failure to appear for sentencing would be any less a continuing offense than a failure to surrender for service of a sentence, and the defendants have offered none. Indeed, other courts that have considered the issue have likewise concluded that failure to appear for 28 Nos. 12-3748, 12-3750, 12-3781, and 12-3787 sentencing is a continuing offense. See, e.g., United States v. Green, 305 F.3d 422, 432 (6th Cir. 2002); United States v. Gray, 876 F.2d 1411 (9th Cir. 1989); United States v. Lopez, 961 F.2d 1058 (2d Cir. 1992). Thus, in United States v. Alcarez Camacho the Guidelines were found to apply to a defendant who failed to appear for his trial before the effective date of the Guidelines, but was apprehended thereafter. 340 F.3d 794 (9th Cir. 2003). The fact that McIntosh did not involve a claimed ex post facto violation is likewise irrelevant. It is the reasoning of Vivit that demonstrates why application of the one-book rule in this case does not result in an ex post facto violation. Vivit rested on the Supreme Court’s observation that “[c]ritical to relief under the Ex Post Facto Clause is not an individual’s right to less punishment, but the lack of fair notice and governmental restraint when the legislature increases punishment beyond what was prescribed when the crime was consummated.” 214 F.3d at 919 (quoting Weaver v. Graham, 450 U.S. 24, 30 (1981)). Vivit held that the grouping and one-book rules provided sufficient notice to the defendant in that case that his earlier offenses would be sentenced under the revised guidelines if he continued to commit related offenses. 214 F.3d at 919. The same conclusion was reached in the overwhelming majority of circuits that considered the issue prior to Peugh and by the only other circuit that has considered the issue since. United States v. Pagan-Ferrer, 736 F.3d 573, 597–99 (1st Cir. 2013) (collecting cases). We see no reason why a different result should follow here. We therefore reject the defendants’ argument that the district court erred in failing to use the 1998 version of the Guidelines to calculate the offense level for the conspiracy counts. While Nos. 12-3748, 12-3750, 12-3781, and 12-3787 29 it appears, based on the date of their arrest, that the 2011 version of the Guidelines should have been used, the defendants have offered no argument that their sentence ranges would have been lower. We therefore find no error in using the later version.