Opinion ID: 3036321
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the mandate and law of the case

Text: [1] Bad Marriage’s principal contention is that the district court failed to comply with this court’s mandate. That mandate was to resentence Bad Marriage “within the appropriate range.” Bad Marriage I, 392 F.3d at 1115. Bad Marriage reads the mandate as requiring imposition of a sentence based UNITED STATES v. BAD MARRIAGE 1905 on offense level sixteen and criminal history category III resulting in a range of twenty-seven to thirty-three months. We disagree. The court’s opinion does not elucidate “the appropriate range.” Its resentencing mandate was based on its determination that the upward adjustment of Bad Marriage’s criminal history was not justified. Id. at 1111-13. Its decision rested on its interpretation of U.S.S.G. § 4A1.3, “Departures Based on Inadequacy of Criminal History Category (Policy Statement),” and that section’s application to the facts of the case.1 Although there is a degree of overlap between the factors bearing on criminal history and those relevant under § 3553, the court did not decide whether other factors relevant to the Guidelines calculation could have justified an upward departure. See, e.g., U.S.S.G. § 5K2.8 Extreme Conduct (Policy Statement) (2003) (court may increase the sentence above the Guidelines range for “conduct unusually . . . brutal or degrading to the victim”). [2] On remand, the district court looked to the Guidelines as advisory but made no reference to Bad Marriage’s criminal history category. When defense counsel, in the course of his argument, asked the court to apply category III in its Guidelines calculation, the court did not respond, neither rejecting 1 In beginning its analysis, the court referred to Bad Marriage’s contention “that his criminal history, while extensive, does not consist of serious offenses warranting departure under U.S.S.G. § 4A1.3.” Bad Marriage I, 392 F.3d at 1107. The court’s opinion then proceeded to discuss “Ninth Circuit Law on § 4A1.3 Departures.” Id. at 1108. It concluded by “hold[- ing] that the seriousness of a defendant’s prior convictions must be a significant factor in a decision to depart under either prong of § 4A1.3.” Id. at 1110. It next discussed the “Recidivism Prong” and concluded “that an upward departure based on the [recidivism] prong of § 4A1.3 was not justified.” Id. at 1113. Finally, the court discussed “Substance Abuse” and concluded that “the length and character of Bad Marriage’s criminal record is clearly the result of a serious drinking problem. To sentence Bad Marriage to a longer term on the basis of that record would serve no useful purpose.” Id. at 1114. 1906 UNITED STATES v. BAD MARRIAGE nor granting this request. The district court’s stated reasons for imposing its sentence were, in substance, to punish the defendant for committing a brutal assault on a defenseless person and to protect the public from similar conduct in the future. Although the court, free of the constraint of the Guidelines, imposed a more severe sentence on remand, we find nothing in the record to suggest that the sentence contravened the mandate.
[3] Even if we were to read Bad Marriage I to hold that on the facts no upward departure from the Guidelines range is justified, the law of the case doctrine does not bar the sentence. “Under the ‘law of the case’ doctrine, a court is ordinarily precluded from reexamining an issue previously decided by the same court, or a higher court, in the same case.” Minidoka Irrigation Dist. v. Dep’t of Interior, 406 F.3d 567, 573 (9th Cir. 2005) (quoting Old Person v. Brown, 312 F.3d 1036, 1039 (9th Cir. 2002)). The doctrine is subject to three exceptions, only one of which is relevant here, to wit, where intervening controlling authority makes reconsideration appropriate. Id. [4] The opinion in Bad Marriage I was issued on December 30, 2004. On January 12, 2005, the Supreme Court decided Booker, 125 S. Ct. 738. The Booker decision fundamentally changed the sentencing regime under which Bad Marriage I was decided, making the Guidelines advisory rather than mandatory. 125 S. Ct. at 756-57 (district courts must consult the Guidelines but are not bound by them).2 If Bad Marriage I is read to establish the law of the case under a mandatory Sentencing Guidelines regime, Booker, which leaves Guide- 2 Contrary to Bad Marriage’s assertion, the district court was free to consider the Booker issue sua sponte. United States v. Cortez-Arias, 425 F.3d 547, 548 (9th Cir. 2005) UNITED STATES v. BAD MARRIAGE 1907 lines as advisory only, is intervening controlling authority displacing prior law of case.3