Opinion ID: 71382
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Substantial Assistance Departure

Text: 10 When, on the Government's motion, a district court grants a downward departure under U.S.S.G. § 5K1.1 or reduces a sentence under Rule 35(b), the sentence reduction may be based only on factors related to the defendant's substantial assistance. United States v. Aponte, 36 F.3d 1050, 1052 (11th Cir.1994); United States v. Chavarria-Herrara, 15 F.3d 1033, 1037 (11th Cir.1994). For example, the district court in Chavarria-Herrara considered factors such as the defendant's first-time offender status and good prison behavior in reducing his sentence under Rule 35(b), and we reversed. Id. 11 Luiz and Griffith contend that the district court misapplied § 5K1.1 when the court considered the Government's decision to charge them leniently. 4 They argue that consideration of the Government's charging decision is improper under Chavarria-Herrara because this factor is unrelated to their substantial assistance. We recently rejected a similar argument with respect to Rule 35(b). United States v. Manella, 86 F.3d 201, 204-05 (11th Cir.1996). Manella holds that Chavarria-Herrara does not apply where the district court's refusal to grant a Rule 35(b) motion is based on factors other than substantial assistance. In Manella, which involved a resentencing, the district court considered factors such as the seriousness of the offense of conviction and the leniency of the original sentence imposed, and we affirmed. We reasoned that, while the district court may reward a defendant under Rule 35(b) only for substantial assistance, the court's decision to grant a Rule 35(b) reduction remains discretionary. See Manella, 86 F.3d at 204 & n. 6. A reading of Rule 35(b) that requires the district court to consider substantial assistance in isolation from any other factor leaves too little discretion for the court to exercise. Id. at 205. 12 Our decision in Manella was based on Rule 35(b), but Manella 's reasoning applies to U.S.S.G. § 5K1.1 and to this case. The district court's decision on a § 5K1.1 motion, like the court's decision on a Rule 35(b) motion, is discretionary. United States v. Castellanos, 904 F.2d 1490, 1497 (11th Cir.1990). In considering the Government's charging decision, the district court compared Luiz's and Griffith's offense conduct, as described in the PSI, to their offenses of conviction. We hold that the court's consideration of this factor was not a misapplication of § 5K1.1.