Opinion ID: 348762
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: the validity of the sentence

Text: 34 The defendant's final assignment of error 3 alleges that 18 U.S.C. § 3575, the Dangerous Special Offender statute, is unconstitutional on its face and as applied. The constitutionality of § 3575 is a question of first impression before this Court, and raises a number of difficult issues. Although there have been several district court cases discussing the constitutionality of the statute, only two circuit courts have rendered their opinion. The Sixth Circuit, in United States v. Stewart, 531 F.2d 326 (6th Cir. 1976), upheld § 3575 against constitutional attack. The Seventh Circuit, however, in United States v. Neary, 552 F.2d 1184 (7th Cir. 1977), while upholding part of the statute against constitutional attack, indicated in dicta that other parts of the act may be constitutionally infirm. After an exhaustive study of the act, we feel constrained to limit our discussion of § 3575 to that part of the statute which provides for an increased sentence for certain repeat offenders (18 U.S.C. § 3575(e)(1)). The enhancement provisions of the statute contained in section (b) can be triggered by meeting the requirements of subsections (e) (1), (e)(2), or (e)(3) if the Court is additionally satisfied that the defendant is dangerous as defined in section (f). Since it is our holding that the statute as applied to a person falling under (e)(1) is constitutional, we restrict our discussion to the statute as it applies to persons falling under that subsection and leave for another day the constitutionality of the act as applied to other categories of special offenders.
35 The first subsection of the statute, 18 U.S.C. § 3575(a), provides that the attorney prosecuting a federal felony can at a reasonable time before trial of the felony or acceptance of a guilty plea, file a notice with the court stating that he has reason to believe that the defendant (who must be over 21) is a dangerous special offender. This notice must set out with particularity the reasons why the prosecutor believes the defendant to be a dangerous special offender. 36 To be a Special Offender within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 3575(e), a defendant must fall within one of three categories. Under subsection (e)(1), a defendant is a special offender if he has two previous felony convictions, has been imprisoned for one of these felonies, and less than five years have elapsed between the commission of the present felony and the defendant's release from imprisonment or his commission of the last previous felony. Under subsection (e)(2), the defendant must have committed the triggering offense as part of a pattern of conduct which was criminal and which provided a substantial source of income to the defendant, and in which he manifested special skill or expertise. Under subsection (e)(3), the triggering offense must have been a conspiracy, or in furtherance of a conspiracy, involving three or more other persons in a pattern of criminal conduct. The defendant must have initiated, organized, planned, financed, directed, managed, or supervised all or part of such conspiracy or conduct, or must have given or received a bribe or used force in the course of such conduct, or must have agreed to do any of the above. Once the elements of any one of the provisions of section (e) are met, section (f) becomes appropriate. It provides: A defendant is dangerous for purposes of this section if a period of confinement longer than that provided for such felony is required for the protection of the public from further criminal conduct by the defendant. Even if the requirements of one of the subsections of (e) are met, the judge still must make an affirmative finding as to the dangerousness of the defendant under section (f) before an enhanced sentence may be imposed. 37 Section (b) provides the defendant with certain procedural protections including a hearing after trial but before sentence is imposed conducted by the court sitting without a jury. At this hearing, the defendant is entitled to the assistance of counsel, compulsory process, and cross-examination of any witnesses. He is also generally provided with a right to examine the presentence report. In certain extraordinary cases where the court may withhold information (including presentence reports) from the defendant, it must disclose that the information has been withheld and must place in the record its reasons for such action. 38 If it appears to the court by a preponderance of the information including information submitted at the trial, the sentence hearing, and the presentence report that the defendant is a dangerous special offender, the court shall sentence the defendant to imprisonment for an appropriate term not to exceed twenty-five years and not disproportionate in severity to the maximum otherwise authorized by law for such felony. Otherwise, the court shall sentence the defendant in accordance with the law prescribing penalties for such felony. The court's findings, including an identification of the information relied upon and the reasons for the sentence imposed, must appear in the record, and are subject to complete review by the Court of Appeals. 18 U.S.C. § 3576.B. THE STATUTE'S CONSTITUTIONALITY 39 The primary constitutional attack against this sentencing statute is that its application results in a significant infringement of one's liberty interests, and, as a result, should not be utilized without first providing the defendant with full procedural due process protections. Accordingly, it is argued that a defendant should be provided with the same due process protections afforded an accused in an ordinary criminal trial i. e., right to counsel, opportunity to be heard and to confront witnesses, right to cross examine, right to offer evidence, proof of all requisite facts beyond a reasonable doubt, and the right to have a jury determine all the facts which are necessary to trigger the implementation of the statute. While this view has legal merit, 4 we feel that the Due Process Clause does not mandate that all these procedural protections be present when a defendant is sentenced under the recidivist part of § 3575, and, consequently, the protections provided for within the statute are adequate. 40 Under normal sentencing procedures, a defendant is sentenced from probation up to the maximum provided for in the statute under which he was convicted. In this type of situation, a defendant is provided with minimal due process guarantees. The Supreme Court has explained in Williams v. New York, 337 U.S. 241, 69 S.Ct. 1079, 93 L.Ed. 1337 (1949), its rationale for providing a defendant at sentencing with less than the full procedural protections: 41 Under the practices of individualizing punishments, investigational techniques have been given an important role. Probation workers making reports of their investigations have not been trained to prosecute but to aid offenders. Their reports have been given a high value by conscientious judges who want to sentence persons on the best available information rather than on guesswork and inadequate information. To deprive sentencing judges of this kind of information would undermine modern penological procedural policies that have been cautiously adopted throughout the nation after careful consideration and experimentation. We must recognize that most of the information now relied upon by judges to guide them in the intelligent imposition of sentences would be unavailable if information were restricted to that given in open court by witnesses subject to cross-examination. And the modern probation report draws on information concerning every aspect of a defendant's life. The type and extent of this information make totally impractical if not impossible open court testimony with cross-examination. Such a procedure could endlessly delay criminal administration in a retrial of collateral issues. 42 Id. at 249, 250, 69 S.Ct. at 1084, 1085. 43 The defendant in this case, however, was not sentenced pursuant to normal sentencing procedures. Instead, the defendant was given an enhanced sentence as allowed for under a federal sentencing statute which in many ways is similar to the state enhancement statute which was struck down by the Supreme Court in Specht v. Patterson, 386 U.S. 605, 87 S.Ct. 1209, 18 L.Ed.2d 326 (1967) for a failure to provide adequate due process protections. 44 In Specht, the defendant attacked the constitutionality of the Colorado Sex Offenders Act which came into play if the trial court found, on the basis of a psychiatric examination, that the accused, who had been convicted of a specified sex offense, would constitute a threat of bodily harm to the public, or was an habitual offender and mentally ill. The defendant attacked the constitutionality of the act because it allowed the trial judge to make his findings on the basis of undisclosed hearsay evidence, and without a hearing at which the defendant could confront and cross-examine adverse witnesses and present evidence of his own through compulsory process. Id. at 608, 87 S.Ct. 1209. The Supreme Court held that the Colorado procedure did not satisfy due process, and declined to extend the minimum due process approved in Williams, to an enhanced sentencing statute which could incarcerate a defendant from one day to life without any type of meaningful notice or hearing. The Court explained that the Sex Offenders Act did not make the commission of a specified crime the basis for sentencing, but rather it made one conviction the basis for commencing another proceeding under another Act to determine whether a person constitutes a threat of bodily harm to the public, or is an habitual offender and mentally ill. That is a new finding of fact . . . that was not an ingredient of the offense charged. Id. Mr. Justice Douglas, writing for the majority of the Court, then stated that a defendant in such a proceeding is entitled to the full panoply of the relevant protections which due process guarantees in state criminal proceeding. He explained: 45 Due Process, in other words, requires that he be present with counsel, have an opportunity to be heard, be confronted with witnesses against him, have the right to cross-examine, and to offer evidence of his own. And there must be findings adequate to make meaningful any appeal that is allowed. 46 Id. at 610, 87 S.Ct. at 1212. 47 Our inquiry today would be simplified if the law was not ever-changing. This is true because § 3575 has incorporated in it all the procedural protections outlined in Specht by Justice Douglas. However, Justice Douglas also said that the defendant should be entitled to the full panoply of due process protections which are guaranteed in state criminal proceedings. This language complicates the problem before us in that the Specht opinion predated the Supreme Court's decisions in Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 145, 88 S.Ct. 1444, 20 L.Ed.2d 491 (1968), and In Re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 90 S.Ct. 1068, 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970), which made the proof beyond a reasonable doubt standard and the right to a trial by jury applicable to the states. We are, therefore, put into a position of deciding between one of three possible ways to handle this federal enhancement statute. First, we could limit Specht to the unique type of statute which was then being scrutinized, and hold that § 3575 is controlled by Williams, and, therefore, the defendant is only entitled to the minimal due process outlined in Williams. This type of analysis could possibly be justified if we place the emphasis of the Specht decision on the fact that the Colorado Act was completely devoid of any procedural protections, and gave the trial court too much leeway in sentencing discretion. However, this analysis glosses over the striking similarities between § 3575 and the Colorado Act. That is, both statutes provide for an increased sentence triggered by a separate conviction, neither statute is part of the usual criminal process stemming from a particular conviction, and both statutes involve less judicial discretion than ordinary sentencing because an increased sentence cannot be imposed without a new finding of fact. See Note, The Constitutionality of Statutes Permitting Increased Sentences for Habitual or Dangerous Criminals, 89 Harv.L.Rev. 356 (1975). 48 The second way we could handle this situation is to say that Specht controls, and the later Supreme Court cases providing for the reasonable doubt standard and the right to trial by jury are incorporated into that decision. This analysis would require us to hold the statute unconstitutional, 5 even though its implementation provides a result no different than ordinary recidivists statutes which have been held constitutional time and again. See e. g., Gryger v. Burke, 334 U.S. 728, 68 S.Ct. 1256, 92 L.Ed. 1683 (1948); Graham v. West Virginia, 224 U.S. 616, 32 S.Ct. 583, 56 L.Ed. 917 (1912); McDonald v. Massachusetts, 180 U.S. 311, 45 L.Ed. 542 (1901); Moore v. Missouri, 159 U.S. 673, 16 S.Ct. 179, 40 L.Ed. 301 (1895). The analysis also ignores the potential distinctions between the statute under review in Specht and the recidivist provision of § 3575 some of which distinctions are legitimate and not overly creative. 6 49 The final way in which to handle this situation is to limit Specht to the due process guarantees which are outlined in that opinion. By so doing, we are able to avoid having to rationalize the Williams and Specht opinions. Since § 3575 provides all the procedural protections specifically mandated by both Williams and Specht, we need not decide what procedural protections are the minimal amount necessary to satisfy due process, and we need only say that the protections provided for in § 3575 are adequate. The distinction is important because we are able to refrain from deciding whether or not the statute is governed by Williams, and thus would be valid even if it lacked some of the procedural protections it provides. We are, therefore, able to reconcile Specht and Williams without having to make haphazard interpretations as to what a separate criminal proceeding means, or exactly what constitutes a new finding of fact. Our holding affects either of the cases only in the sense it limits the potential scope of Specht by saying that the Supreme Court would still not require the proof beyond a reasonable doubt standard and the right to factual determinations by a jury in a sentencing proceeding of a defendant under the recidivist portion of § 3575. We feel that this interpretation is warranted based upon some recent language of the Supreme Court, 7 and the rather apparent fact that a person accused of being a recidivist (and, therefore, by analogy, one accused of being a special offender under (e)(1)) does not need the full due process protections afforded the accused in an ordinary criminal trial. This is so because usually the only additional evidence against one charged with being a recidivist are tangible court records, and the accused's only defenses are that he is not the person mentioned in the previous convictions or that the convictions are void. We see no reason why a defendant under (e)(1) needs more procedural protections than would a defendant being sentenced under any other recidivist provision, and we, therefore, refuse to extend that protection to those defendants being sentenced under § 3575(e)(1). 50 The dangerous offender statute is also under attack because the term dangerous as used in § 3575(f) is alleged to be unconstitutionally vague. We disagree. The term dangerous is not a new concept in the criminal law. A district court is constantly faced with making this finding whenever it is granting, denying or setting bail. In fact, the addition of this term simply grants greater protection to a defendant since the statute would most likely be constitutional without this additional requirement. It is also worth noting that the statute does not make it a criminal offense to be dangerous, but rather is directed against criminals convicted not of being dangerous but of having violated a law of the United States. See United States v. Stewart, 531 F.2d 326, 336 (5th Cir. 1976); cf. Lanzetta v. New Jersey, 306 U.S. 45, 59 S.Ct. 618, 83 L.Ed. 888 (1939). C. SPECIFIC ERRORS RAISED BY THE DEFENDANT 51 The defendant launches several attacks against the dangerous special offender statute, but most of these alleged errors can be disposed of quickly in light of our preceding discussion. The first error raised by the defendant is that the statute was applied in violation of the Fifth Amendment double jeopardy prohibition because it allowed Judge Roettger to reconsider all the worst aspects of the defendant's prior convictions. We feel that no error has been committed, and that this situation is controlled by this Court's decision in Woodward v. Beto, 447 F.2d 103 (5th Cir. 1971), which held that enhancement by reason of prior convictions does not offend the double jeopardy prohibition. The defendant further alleges that the double jeopardy prohibition was violated because Judge Roettger considered at the sentencing hearing two prior firearms convictions which had been overturned on appeal. In fact, Judge Roettger recognized the general rule that invalid convictions may not be used to enhance punishment, but he went on to state that he can consider the facts of the possession of these weapons as matters relating to Title 18, U.S.C. § 3575(e) (2), (e)(3), and (f). We agree with Judge Roettger. At a sentencing, a Court can consider many matters that might not be admissable at a trial including evidence of crimes for which the defendant has been indicted but not convicted, and evidence of other crimes. Such consideration does not constitute double jeopardy since the defendant is not punished a second time for the same offense, but the repetition of criminal conduct aggravates his guilt and justifies heavier penalties when he is again convicted. Even facts disclosed during the course of a prior trial which ended in an acquittal or was reversed on appeal can be considered by the Court. United States v. Sweig, 454 F.2d 181 (2nd Cir. 1972). A conviction which was reversed on appeal cannot of course be used as one of the prior convictions which trigger the implementation of the enhancement statute under the recidivist provision of § 3575(e)(1). Judge Roettger recognized this and only used the facts underlying the reversed convictions when he felt they were probative in determining whether the defendant was either a special offender under (e)(2) and (e)(3), or dangerous as defined in (f). We hold that Judge Roettger committed no reversible error in using this information in such a manner. 52 The defendant's second attack against the statute alleges that the  dangerous standard is unconstitutionally vague, and that the statute was applied in violation of the defendant's Fifth Amendment due process guarantee, and his Sixth Amendment right to trial by jury and confrontation. As we have previously noted, the dangerous standard is not unconstitutionally vague, and subsection (e)(1), which allows enhancement for certain repeat offenders, does not offend the Fifth Amendment due process guarantee or the Sixth Amendments rights to trial by jury and confrontation. 53 The next error the defendant raises is that using the recidivist provisions of § 3575(e) to enhance what is already a recidivist statute contravenes legislative intent and violates double jeopardy. The defendant contends that the act was aimed at controlling major gambling activities not unauthorized possession of firearms and to employ the act in this case contravenes legislative intent. The defendant also asserts that he is already being punished as a recidivist under the Firearms Act since his possession would not have been illegal if he had not been previously convicted of a felony. He contends that twice punishing him for being convicted of a felony violates double jeopardy. The defendant, however, fails to cite us any authority excluding the firearms provisions from the scope of the enhancement statute. The mere fact that the legislation was initially prompted by a desire to curb major gambling activities of organized crime, does not mean that there was a legislative intent to exclude from sentencing under this statute the crimes the defendant was found to have committed. Also, the statute does not violate the double jeopardy clause for the same reason that recidivist statutes have traditionally been held constitutional that is, the increased punishment does not represent punishment for the earlier crimes, but rather the fact of the earlier crimes aggravates the commission of the latest crime warranting imposition of the longer sentence. 54 The final error the defendant raises on appeal 8 is that he was denied his constitutional right to self representation at the sentencing hearing. Prior to the sentencing hearing, the defendant filed a pro se motion for leave to proceed as co-counsel because he was allegedly dissatisfied with his court-appointed attorney. The defendant seeks to extend the holding in Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975), which affirmed a person's constitutional right to act as his own counsel. The defendant contends that this right to self representation necessarily comprehends the right to act as co-counsel. We do not agree. The defendant here did not want to dispense with his own counsel, but rather he wanted to engage in his own questioning while still enjoying court-appointed counsel. A district court cannot act with any efficiency where witnesses are questioned both by attorneys and by defendants. Faretta does not hold that a defendant has a Sixth Amendment right to act as co-counsel, and we are not willing to extend the reach of the Sixth Amendment to include such a right.