Opinion ID: 672030
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: the propriety of the departure

Text: 16 It is against this backdrop that we turn to the sentences imposed in this case. While the GSR topped out at 210 months, the court, using the consecutive sentence mechanism, directed that appellant serve a total of 336 months in prison. 5 Appellant assigns error. 17 We review a sentencing court's decision to depart by means of a three-step procedure: 18 First, we evaluate the circumstances relied on by the district court in determining that the case is sufficiently unusual to warrant departure. If the stated circumstances pass muster, we proceed to the next rung and determine whether those circumstances were adequately documented. After the first two levels are climbed, the departure must be measured by a standard of reasonableness. 19 United States v. Aguilar-Pena, 887 F.2d 347, 350 (1st Cir.1989) (citing Diaz-Villafane, 874 F.2d at 49); see also United States v. Rosales, 19 F.3d 763, 769 (1st Cir.1994); Rivera, 994 F.2d at 950. Our task is simplified here, as the district court premised its upward departure on appellant's extreme conduct in the commission of the offense--and extreme conduct is plainly a circumstance justifying an upward departure. 6 See United States v. Johnson, 952 F.2d 565, 584 (1st Cir.1991) (applying U.S.S.G. Sec. 5K2.8); United States v. Ellis, 935 F.2d 385, 395 (1st Cir.1991) (same). Thus, we are concerned exclusively with the second and third steps of the departure pavane. 20
21 Since carjacking by its nature is a violent felony, see, e.g., U.S.S.G. Sec. 2B3.1 (defining carjacking as the taking or attempted taking of a motor vehicle from the person or presence of another by force and violence or by intimidation), particular instances of carjacking can bear the weight of an upward departure only when they involve conduct that is more heinous, cruel, brutal, or degrading to the victim(s) than the sort of conduct ordinarily associated with run-of-the-mill carjacking cases. See United States v. Kelly, 1 F.3d 1137, 1143 (10th Cir.1993); see generally U.S.S.G. Sec. 5K2.0. At the second step of the Diaz-Villafane inquiry, appellate review of a district court's determination that a case is unusual, and therefore warrants departure, must take place with full awareness of, and respect for, the trier's superior 'feel' for the case. Diaz-Villafane, 874 F.2d at 50. 7 Insofar as it involves factfinding, this standard of review translates into what courts commonly call clear-error review. See id. And thereafter, due deference is accorded to the district court's application of the guidelines to particular facts. 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3742(e). 22 In the case at bar, the judge premised the upward departure on the unusually brutal, cruel, and degrading treatment accorded some of the victims. Having reviewed the record with care, we believe that the lower court's factfinding is entirely supportable. Based on those findings, the circumstances of the carjackings in which appellant participated are significantly atypical. Consequently, a departure is warranted. 23 As previously noted, appellant pleaded guilty to two carjacking charges. His argument against the finding of 'extreme conduct' is directed mainly to the November 8, 1992 incident. He claims that he is insulated from responsibility for any excesses that took place during that episode because he shot himself in the leg, required medical assistance, and was elsewhere when the victims were robbed, beaten and shot. 24 This claim does not withstand scrutiny. Despite appellant's self-inflicted wound, there is ample evidence that he took part in the beatings. Statements of fact in a presentence report are generally accorded evidentiary significance at sentencing. See, e.g., United States v. Morillo, 8 F.3d 864, 872 (1st Cir.1993) (Facts contained in a presentence report ordinarily are considered reliable evidence for sentencing purposes.). That proposition has special force where no objection was lodged to the probation officer's account. See id. at 872-73. 25 In this instance, the presentence report recites that appellant entered the victims' vehicle, forcefully struck one man on the head, aimed his gun at the second man, and threatened to blow off his head. He then continuously pistol-whipped the first victim while he robbed him of his jewelry. Appellant accepted this account without particularized objection. This conduct--especially the incessant beating of the first victim--is of a piece with the examples enumerated in section 5K2.8 itself. See supra note 6. It is emblematic of the very sort of sociopathic behavior that section 5K2.8 sought to single out for special attention. 26 Moreover, the basis for departure extends beyond the November 8 incident; the court below also grounded its departure on appellant's conduct during the episode that occurred two days earlier. Appellant does not discuss his role in the first carjacking. We can readily appreciate his diffidence: the circumstances of that incident convey a grim message. 27 In regard to the events of November 6, the trial court found that the victim, Munoz, had been exposed to a series of brutalities for a period of over three hours; that he was mercilessly beaten with cocked handguns by the assailants, including appellant; that the carjackers constantly threatened him with death, forcing him to beg for his life; that, at one point, Munoz was coerced into putting his finger into the barrel of a .357 magnum revolver, in a macabre sort of game; and that the carjackers appeared to be enjoying themselves throughout. These findings are all solidly rooted in the record. Accordingly, we rule that the circumstances of the two offenses and the facts relative to Quinones' participation in them justify an upward departure.B. Reasonableness. 28 We now reach the final rung on the departure ladder. Our duty is clear: once we have assured ourselves that the sentencing court considered circumstances appropriate to the departure equation and that those factors enjoyed adequate record support, the direction and degree of departure must, on appeal, be measured by a standard of reasonableness. Diaz-Villafane, 874 F.2d at 49; accord United States v. Doe, 18 F.3d 41, 44 (1st Cir.1994). 29 Noting that the sentences together represent an increase of 126 months over the pinnacle of the GSR, or, put another way, a 60% increase in the overall quantum of punishment, appellant asseverates that so substantial a departure is excessive, and, hence, unreasonable. This asseveration takes on a special gloss because the district court made no effort to explain the degree of departure. We recently confronted a somewhat similar situation in Rosales. There, Judge Bownes wrote: 30 Although sentencing courts have substantial leeway with respect to the degree of a departure, this freedom does not relieve a sentencing court from explaining its ultimate decision of how far to depart. Merely explaining why a departure was made does not fulfill the separate requirement of stating the reasons for imposing the particular sentence. 31 Rosales, 19 F.3d at 770 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). Rosales builds on a long line of circuit precedent to like effect. See, e.g., Rivera, 994 F.2d at 950; United States v. Ocasio, 914 F.2d 330, 336 (1st Cir.1990). Other signposts point in the same direction. See, e.g., Kelly, 1 F.3d at 1144; 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3553(c)(2). 32 To be sure, district courts need not be precise to the point of pedantry in explaining judgment calls undertaken in the course of the sentencing process. We have consistently rejected a per se rule tying degrees of departure to the use of analogs, see, e.g., United States v. Aymelek, 926 F.2d 64, 69-70 (1st Cir.1991); and we have, on occasion, sanctioned departures in the absence of a clear explanation for the designated degree of departure, see, e.g., United States v. Ramirez, 11 F.3d 10, 14 (1st Cir.1993). But the omission of an explicit explanation of the scope of a departure is a practice that should be employed sparingly. On appeal, we will overlook such an omission only if the reasons for the judge's choice are obvious or if an explanation can fairly be implied from the record as a whole. 33 Here, the record gives us pause. The extent of the departure, whether viewed in absolute or relative terms, is very great. 8 The court does not indicate why it believed that a lesser departure would be inadequate. Indeed, the judge's only statement apropos of the degree of departure was to the effect that a 336-month prison term would be equivalent to a sentence for each offense at the low end of the GSR, served consecutively. This comment sheds very little light and does not in any way buttress the degree of departure. 34 Because we find ourselves unable to evaluate the reasonableness of the court's departure equation without the benefit of some elaboration, we must take suitable precautions. As matters now stand, there is simply too great a risk that the extra period of incarceration imposed on appellant was derived in an arbitrary manner. Rather than requiring resentencing, however, we think a less cumbersome alternative may suffice. 35 In United States v. Levy, 897 F.2d 596 (1st Cir.1990), we noted that, if ambiguities lurk in the sentencing record, a court of appeals may essay a limited remand for clarificatory purposes. Id. at 599 (citing illustrative cases); see also United States v. Parra-Ibanez, 951 F.2d 21, 22 (1st Cir.1991) (remanding for clarification whilst retaining appellate jurisdiction). We believe that the interests of justice can be served fully by following a similar practice here. Hence, we remand the matter to the district court with directions to revisit the extent of the departure and either (a) vacate the sentence and conduct a new sentencing hearing, or (b) reaffirm the sentence previously imposed, filing with the clerk of the district court a written statement of its reasons for settling upon, and adhering to, the degree of departure. 9 36 In all events, the district court shall notify the clerk of this court within twenty days of the date hereof as to which option it chooses to pursue. In the meantime, we shall retain appellate jurisdiction. Of course, we express no opinion on the appropriateness of the sentences previously imposed. 37 It is so ordered. ORDER OF COURT 38 In accordance with this court's order of May 20, 1994, the district court has filed a comprehensive written statement of its reasons for selecting the degree of departure. We find those reasons persuasive. Consequently, we affirm appellant's sentence.