Opinion ID: 3038508
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: amended guideline

Text: The Amendment now provides, in part: (2) If the defendant has multiple prior sentences, determine whether those sentences are counted separately or as a single sentence . . . If there is no intervening arrest, prior sentences are counted separately unless (A) the sentences resulted from offenses contained in the same charging instrument; or (B) the sentences were imposed on the same day. Count any prior sentence covered by (A) or (B) as a single sentence. U.S.S.G. § 4A1.2(a)(2). Application Note 3 now reads: Upward Departure Provision. - Counting multiple prior sentences as a single sentence may result in a criminal history score that underrepresents the seriousness of the defendant’s criminal history and the danger that the defendant presents to the public. In such a case, an upward departure may 10 be warranted. Wood argues that the Amendment merely clarifies the method a court uses to determine whether prior offenses are related, and eliminates any ambiguities inherent in the prior version of the Guidelines by requiring only that the sentences be imposed on the same day. Thus, Wood argues that we should apply the Amendment retroactively, and that we need not inquire into whether a formal consolidation order was issued in prior proceedings. The Government, on the other hand, argues that the Amendment effects a substantive change in the calculation of criminal history scores. Far from clarifying ambiguous terms, the Amendment replaces previously undefined terms such as “related cases” with “prior sentences,” which the Government argues has the effect of implementing a new approach to assessing a defendant’s criminal background. We compare the texts of the prior Guideline provision and the Amendment in order to analyze the effect, if any, the latter has on computing a defendant’s criminal history score. The provision in effect at the time of Wood’s sentencing distinguishes between unrelated and related cases, and defines relatedness with respect to similarity in either time, facts, or judicial economy. In contrast, the Amendment has not incorporated the concept of “related” offenses into the main body of § 4A1.2(a)(2). Instead, the Amendment contemplates that prior sentences are to be considered as one if the underlying offenses either share the same charging instrument or were sentenced together on the same day. Absent from the Amendment is any consideration of whether the offenses in question share any temporal proximity or factual relationship. 11 The Amendment also fails to mention the notion of consolidation. While the upward departure provision contained in the new Application Note 3 provides a sentencing judge with discretion to count prior sentences separately if the score does not accurately capture the severity of a defendant’s history, we find that, on the whole, the Amendment introduces a new treatment of prior convictions that does not turn on relatedness, but rather on factors that would be obvious from the record, such as whether the offenses were charged together or were sentenced together. Therefore, we hold that the amended version of § 4A1.2(a)(2) effects a substantive change, and, therefore, we will not apply it retroactively to Wood’s sentence. Having found no error in the District Court’s interpretation of § 4A1.2(a)(2) at the time of sentencing or with its findings of fact with respect to Wood’s prior convictions, we will affirm the sentence.