Opinion ID: 661826
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Jurisdiction and the Right of the Government to Appeal

Text: 5 First, we determine that 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3742 confers jurisdiction upon this court to hear this appeal, and that the government may appeal the district court ruling pursuant to Sec. 3742(b). 1 Section 3742 establishes a limited practice of appellate review of sentences in the Federal criminal justice system. S.Rep. No. 225, 98th Cong., 2d Sess. 149 (1983), reprinted in 1984 U.S.C.C.A.N. 3182, 3332. We have held that Sec. 3742 confers jurisdiction on this court to consider appeals of sentences resulting from rulings on government motions made under Fed.R.Crim.P. 35(b). 2 U.S. v. Yesil, 991 F.2d 1527, 1531, n. 4 (11th Cir.1991). Yesil involved a defendant's appeal (i.e., defendant Deppe), pursuant to Sec. 3742(a)(1), of a ruling on a Rule 35(b) motion. The symmetrical structure of Sec. 3742 indicates that Congress intended appellate review of sentences to be available to the government on the same terms as to defendants. The legislative history confirms this symmetry. S.Rep. No. 225, 98th Cong., 2d Sess. 150 (1983), reprinted in 1984 U.S.C.C.A.N. 3182, 3333 (Section 3742 was enacted so that appellate review would be available equally to the defendant and the government.). Accordingly, we now hold that Sec. 3742(b) allows the government to appeal a Rule 35(b) determination and confers appellate jurisdiction on this court, when that determination results in a sentence that satisfies one of the criteria for appeal set out in Sec. 3742. 6 Although finding appellate jurisdiction of a defendant's appeal under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291, the First Circuit, noting its disagreement with Yesil, held that rulings on Rule 35(b) motions are not appealable pursuant to Sec. 3742. U.S. v. McAndrews, 12 F.3d 273, 277 (1st Cir.1993). The only reason given by the McAndrews panel was that an order resolving a Rule 35(b) motion is not, properly speaking, a sentence. Id. We find this reasoning unpersuasive. Section 3742 allows for the appeal of an otherwise final sentence. In ruling upon a Rule 35(b) motion, the district court will either reduce the sentence that was previously imposed or leave it undisturbed. Once that ruling is made, the remaining sanction upon the defendant falls within the common sense meaning of an otherwise final sentence. The government may appeal that remaining sentence if it satisfies one of the four criteria set out in Sec. 3742(b). We have noted before that a modification of a sentence is part of the sentencing process. United States v. Dean, 752 F.2d 535, 540 (11th Cir.1985). Moreover, we believe our interpretation better comports with the Congressional intent that appeals of sentences be based on the Sec. 3742 criteria and that there be symmetry between appeals by a defendant and appeals by the government. 3 7 The defendant also argues that the use of the word imposed in three of the four instances which trigger the right to appeal under Sec. 3742 limits the right to appeal to the original imposition of sentence. We disagree. The sentence that is ordered by a sentencing court in ruling on a Rule 35 motion readily falls within the meaning of the concept of imposition of sentence, especially in light of the express statutory provision contemplating appeal of an otherwise final sentence. Moreover, the term imposed is not used in the third instance which triggers a right of appeal. 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3742(a)(3) and (b)(3). Neither the statutory language nor the structure of the statute nor common sense 4 suggests that Congress intended to allow appeal of a Rule 35 order in the third instance, but not in the others. Finally, the legislative history indicates that Congress intended appeals of Rule 35 orders pursuant to the Sec. 3742 provisions. See S.Rep. No. 225, 98th Cong.2d Sess. 158 (1983), reprinted in 1984 U.S.S.C.A.N. 3182, 3341 (indicating that Congress amended Rule 35(b) specifically to accord with the provisions of proposed section 3742 of title 18 concerning appellate review of sentence). 5 8 For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the district court's ruling on the Rule 35(b) motion may be appealed by the government pursuant to Sec. 3742.