Opinion ID: 202332
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Defendant Matos-Quiñones's Sentence

Text: 37 At his sentencing hearing, defendant Matos-Quiñones objected to the government's argument that he should be assessed a full share of responsibility for the victim's death. Although the plea agreement allowed the government to make any sentencing recommendation, Matos-Quiñones argued that the government's argument was inconsistent with the government's stipulation that Matos-Quiñones was not the shooter of the victim and did not at any time intend that the victim be killed. The government countered that even after the plea agreement incorporating the stipulation, it retained the right to argue that Matos-Quiñones was fully culpable for his participation in the carjacking. The district court reasoned that there was nothing in the plea agreement and stipulation that required the government to surrender its contention that Matos-Quiñones was fully liable for the victim's death. 38 [W]e hold prosecutors engaging in plea bargaining to the most meticulous standards of both promise and performance, United States v. Riggs, 287 F.3d 221, 224 (1st Cir.2002) (internal quotation marks omitted). Therefore, a defendant is entitled not only to the government's technical compliance with its stipulations but also to the benefit of the bargain struck in the plea deal, United States v. Clark, 55 F.3d 9, 11 (1st Cir.1995), and to the good faith of the prosecutor, United States v. Frazier, 340 F.3d 5, 11 (1st Cir. 2003). With these principles in mind, we have reviewed carefully the plea agreement and the transcripts of the change of plea and sentencing hearings. Finding no inconsistency between the government's stipulation and its sentencing argument, we conclude that the government's conduct at the sentencing afforded Matos-Quiñones the benefit of the bargain he had negotiated before pleading guilty. 39 By stipulating as it did, the government waived any right to refer to evidence that Matos-Quiñones had attempted to kill the victim and intended his death. Conversely, the stipulation allowed Matos-Quiñones to make an impassioned argument to the district court that he was not equally responsible for the victim's death. Although this argument would have been available in any event, it was far more effective than it otherwise would have been because of the stipulation. As the transcript shows, the argument won the serious attention of the district court. 40 On the other hand, the plea agreement incorporating the stipulation did not require the government to concede that Matos-Quiñones was less than fully liable for the crime to which he had pleaded guilty. First, the district court was correct in observing that nothing in the stipulation precluded Matos-Quiñones's full liability for the charged crime. Second, the government's agreement with Matos-Quiñones, like its agreement with Ortiz-Feliciano, stipulated a guideline sentence level of 40 and prohibited the defendant from arguing for a downward departure. The guidelines specifically authorize a departure in cases where one defendant sentenced under the murder guidelines is less culpable than his co-defendants. See U.S.S.G. § 2A1.1, application note 1 (providing for a downward departure of as much as ten levels when a defendant punishable under the first-degree murder guideline is less than fully-culpable for the victim's death); U.S.S.G. § 2B3.1(c) (referencing § 2A1.1 for certain carjacking offenses). That the agreement forbade Matos-Quiñones from arguing for a downward departure on this ground emphasizes that the government had not surrendered its right to argue that Matos-Quiñones could be sentenced on the same terms as Ortiz-Feliciano. 41 In short, the stipulation allowed Matos-Quiñones to make a more plausible argument that he should not be sentenced to the same term as Ortiz-Feliciano. However, the plea agreement incorporating the stipulation did not require the government to concede this point, or to forego an argument to the contrary. The fact that the stipulation did not help Matos-Quiñones avoid a life sentence does not mean that the government delivered less than it had promised. 42 Affirmed.