Opinion ID: 1387484
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Erroneous Guidelines Calculations

Text: Brown and Wise also argue that the District Court committed procedural error by incorrectly calculating the applicable Guidelines ranges. Effective November 1, 2007, the United States Sentencing Commission adopted Amendment 706, which modified the Guidelines ranges applicable to crack cocaine offenses. In general, the effect of Amendment 706 is to decrease by two levels the base offense levels for crack cocaine offenses. [8] See U.S.S.G. 2D1.1 (Nov. 1, 2007); U.S.S.G. Supp. to App'x C, Amend. 706. Brown and Wise argue that because the District Court employed the Guidelines that were in effect on the day they were sentenced, and because the Guidelines were amended during the pendency of their appeals, the District Court's Guidelines calculation amounts to procedural error. Their argument is unpersuasive. Since Booker, the Guidelines are one factor among several listed in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) that courts must consider in determining the appropriate sentence to impose on a defendant. Gall, 128 S.Ct. at 596-97. Specifically, 3553(a)(4)(A)(ii) instructs that a court should consider the Guidelines that are in effect on the date the defendant is sentenced. [9] That statutory command has been incorporated into the Guidelines themselves, which state that [t]he court shall use the Guidelines Manual in effect on the date that the defendant is sentenced. U.S.S.G. § 1B1.11 (a). The Guidelines are no longer mandatory, but that does not render optional § 3553(a)(4)'s direction to consider the Guidelines that are in effect on the date of sentencing. Accordingly, we will continue to expect that district courts will calculate the applicable sentencing ranges using the Guidelines extant at the time of sentencing, and we will continue to review the propriety of a sentence based on those same Guidelines. United States v. Diaz, 245 F.3d 294, 300-01, 305 (3d Cir.2001) (citing U.S.S.G. § 1B1.11(a)). On review, there are two exceptions to that rule: first, if applying the version of the Guidelines in effect on the date of sentencing presents an ex post facto problem, United States v. Menon, 24 F.3d 550, 556 (3d Cir.1994), and second, if a subsequent guideline amendment merely clarifies the law in existence at the time of sentencing, as opposed to working a substantive change in the law. Diaz, 245 F.3d at 301. Neither exception is applicable in this case. There is clearly no ex post facto problem, and we have previously ruled that a post-sentencing amendment reducing the base offense level applicable to a particular offense is a substantive change and is therefore not applied retroactively to cases on appeal. [10] United States v. Marcello, 13 F.3d 752, 756 (3d Cir.1994) (affirming a defendant's sentence even though a Guidelines amendment that had taken effect during the pendency of the defendant's appeal had lowered the applicable Guidelines range). In this case, Brown and Wise were sentenced on November 20, 2006. The District Court properly calculated their Guidelines ranges using the version of the Guidelines that was in effect on that date. We therefore find no procedural error in the District Court's Guidelines calculation. Nevertheless, Brown and Wise may be able to obtain some benefit from Amendment 706 in the future, through a procedure available in the District Court. Generally, a district court may not alter a term of imprisonment once it has been imposed. See 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c). However, § 3582(c)(2) provides an exception: [I]n the case of a defendant who has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment based on a sentencing range that has subsequently been lowered, by the Sentencing Commission pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 994( o ), upon motion of the defendant or the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, or on its own motion, the court may reduce the term of imprisonment, after considering the factors set forth in section 3553(a) to the extent that they are applicable, if such a reduction is consistent with applicable policy statements issued by the Sentencing Commission. Accordingly, if the applicable Guidelines range has been lowered after a defendant has been sentenced, a district court may sua sponte, or upon motion of the defendant, or upon motion of the Director of the Bureau of Prisonsreduce the defendant's sentence, but only if the reduction would be consistent with a policy statement issued by the Sentencing Commission. Id. Defendants sentenced for crack cocaine offenses prior to November 1, 2007 will, however, have to wait to seek the relief provided in § 3582(c)(2). They cannot obtain that relief immediately because § 1B1.10 of the Guidelines, entitled Reduction in Term of Imprisonment as a Result of Amended Guideline Range (Policy Statement), provides that a reduction under § 3582(c)(2) is not authorized unless an amendment reducing the applicable guidelines range is among those listed in § 1B.10(c), see U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10(c) (Nov. 1, 2007), and Amendment 706 is not yet listed in § 1B.10(c). Therefore, Brown and Wise cannot currently file an application under § 3582(c)(2). [11] But an amendment to § 1B1.10 is set to take effect on March 3, 2008. See 73 Fed.Reg. 217-01 (Jan. 2, 2008). If and when that amendment takes effect, district courts will, under the circumstances specified in § 3582(c)(2), be authorized to reduce the sentences of defendants whose Guidelines ranges would be lowered by Amendment 706. Id. Our decision today is without prejudice to Brown's and Wise's statutory right to pursue reduced sentences in the District Court under § 3582(c)(2), if the amendment to Guideline § 1B1.10 becomes effective on March 3, 2008.