Opinion ID: 2972514
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: analysis

Text: A district court’s interpretation of the Sentencing Guidelines is subject to de novo review. United States v. Campbell, 317 F.3d 597, 604 (6th Cir. 2003). In U.S. v. Farrelley, 389 F.3d 649, 657-61 (6th Cir. 2004), this court determined that in cases where a defendant only possesses child pornography, but does not transmit it, district courts must use U.S.S.G. § 2G2.4, rather than U.S.S.G. § 2G2.2. In this case, Defendant possessed rather than transmitted child pornography. Thus, under our ruling in Farrelley, the district court applied the wrong Guideline when it sentenced Defendant. Because Defendant was sentenced under an earlier version of the Guidelines, and because the Guidelines relevant to Defendant’s sentence have changed,1 we must determine which version of the Guidelines the district court should use on remand. The Supreme Court’s decision in Booker somewhat complicates our inquiry. Although Booker excised 18 U.S.C. § 3742(e) in its remedy opinion, it left 18 U.S.C. § 3742(f) and (g) intact. Title 18 U.S.C. § 3742(f) indicates that “[i]f the court of appeals determines that . . . the sentence was imposed in violation of law or imposed as a 1 In the November 2004 version of the Guidelines, the Sentencing Commission deleted U.S.S.G. § 2G2.4 and determined that all people who are convicted of either possessing or transmitting child pornography should be sentenced under U.S.S.G. § 2G2.2. This change makes the portion of Farrelley that deals with U.S.S.G. § 2G2.4 moot for future child pornography sentences. No. 04-6191 United States v. Williams Page 3 result of an incorrect application of the sentencing guidelines, the court shall remand the case for further sentencing proceedings . . . ” and 18 U.S.C. § 3742(g) indicates that: [a] district court to which a case is remanded [pursuant to § 3742(f)] shall resentence a defendant in accordance with section 3553 . . . except that . . . [i]n determining the range referred to in subsection 3553(a)(4), the court shall apply the guidelines issued by the Sentencing Commission pursuant to section 994(a)(1) of title 28, United States Code, and that were in effect on the date of the previous sentencing of the defendant prior to the appeal . . . . Although Congress plainly wrote this statute under the belief that the Guidelines were mandatory, see Booker, 125 S.Ct. at 791, n.6 (2005) (Scalia, J., dissenting), the remedial majority did not excise 18 U.S.C. § 3742(f) or (g), and both remain valid law. We must, therefore, endeavor to apply those sections while taking Booker into account. We believe that the most appropriate postBooker understanding of these sections is to require the district court, upon remand, to consult the 2001 version of the Guidelines, the same Guidelines under which the district court originally sentenced Defendant, in calculating Defendant’s Guideline range. Of course, Booker, 125 S. Ct. at 764, made the Guidelines advisory. Therefore, the Guideline range that results from the use of U.S.S.G. § 2G2.4 (2001) (amended Nov. 2004) on resentencing is an advisory range. We make no finding at this time as to the reasonableness of a sentence outside (either above or below) the range suggested by the 2001 version of the Guidelines. Booker did not eliminate judicial fact-finding in sentencing in cases where a defendant plead guilty. Instead, it merely gave district courts the option to sentence a defendant differently than the Guidelines would require after calculating the Guideline range. Id. at 764, 769. District courts still must consult the Guidelines in determining an appropriate sentence. Id. Both U.S.S.G. §§ 2G2.2 (2001) (amended Nov. 2004) and 2G2.4 (2001) (amended Nov. 2004) contain a two level enhancement for images portraying prepubescent children. Defendant’s guilty plea and his acceptance of the findings of the presentence report eliminate any concerns over judicial fact-finding with respect to this enhancement. See United States v. Stafford, 258 F.3d 465, 475-76 (6th Cir. 2001); U.S. v. Harris, No. 04-1589, 2005 WL 894581at  (6th Cir. April 19, 2005) (unpublished). Both Guidelines also include a two level enhancement if a computer is used in the offense. Compare U.S.S.G. § 2G2.2(b)(5) and U.S.S.G. § 2G2.4(b)(3). We, therefore, reject Defendant’s argument that the district court improperly enhanced his sentence by two levels for the use of a computer, because although the district court should have applied the enhancement pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2G2.4 (2001) (amended Nov. 2004), this error was harmless. As the indictment and the presentence report make clear, Defendant indisputably used a computer in the commission of his offenses. The only way that he could view the material was through the use of a computer. Thus, the district court, in calculating the appropriate Guideline range, may still apply these2enhancements pursuant to the appropriate Guideline in calculating Defendant’s Guideline range. It must then sentence Defendant consistent with the Supreme Court’s decision in Booker and with this court’s precedent interpreting Booker. 2 U.S.S.G. § 2G2.2 (2001) (amended Nov. 2004) contains a four level enhancement for images portraying sadistic or masochistic conduct, while U.S.S.G. § 2G2.4 (2001) (amended Nov. 2004) does not include this enhancement. The district court, then, should not apply this enhancement when it calculates Defendant’s Guideline range. We note, however, that in 2003, the Sentencing Commission added a four level enhancement for child pornography depicting sadistic or masochistic conduct to U.S.S.G. § 2G2.4. We make no finding as to whether an upward departure from the Guideline range would be permissible or reasonable based on the images possessed by Defendant, given that some of those images depicted scenes of rape and incest as described by the presentence report. No. 04-6191 United States v. Williams Page 4