Opinion ID: 165805
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Overrepresentation of Criminal History 4

Text: 18 Sierra-Castillo also sought a departure based on the argument that his criminal history category significantly overrepresented the seriousness of his offenses because his prior felony conviction for attempted sexual assault was nearly fifteen years old at the time he illegally reentered the country. Downward departures under the Guidelines are warranted only when there exists an aggravating or mitigating circumstance of a kind, or to a degree, not adequately taken into consideration by the Sentencing Commission in formulating the guidelines that should result in a sentence different from that described. U.S.S.G. § 5K2.0 (quotation omitted). 5 The Guidelines acknowledge that the defendant's criminal history score is unlikely to take into account all the variations in the seriousness of criminal history that may occur. U.S.S.G. § 4A1.3, cmt. background. 6 In contrast to family circumstances, the Guidelines therefore explicitly encourage a departure when the district court concludes that a defendant's criminal history category over-represents the seriousness of the defendant's criminal history. Collins, 122 F.3d at 1304. 19 Although overrepresentation of criminal history is therefore a permissible ground for departure under the Guidelines in some cases, any finding that criminal history is overrepresented must be based on factual circumstances that themselves constitute permissible grounds for departure. Id. Whether a factual circumstance is a permissible factor to support a departure is a question of law. Id. at 1303. If a particular factor is already fully taken into account by the Guidelines, a downward departure based on that factor is inappropriate. United States v. Kelly, 1 F.3d 1137, 1140-41 (10th Cir.1993) (If the sentencing court departs based on a circumstance already fully considered by the Sentencing Commission, it is an inappropriate grounds for departure.); see United States v. Whiteskunk, 162 F.3d 1244, 1248-50 (10th Cir.1998). 20 The age of a prior conviction, standing alone, is a factor that is already fully accounted for by the Guidelines. See § 4A1.2(e)(1) (providing that certain offenses occurring more than fifteen years prior to commencement of the present offense are not counted in computing a defendant's criminal history category). Although this court in Collins did consider the age of a prior conviction as one of several circumstances supporting a departure, the defendant in that case did not base his downward departure argument solely on the age of his conviction. Collins, 122 F.3d at 1307-08. The defendant in Collins also argued that the prior offense was a relatively moderate one for which he received a lenient sentence, that his relative age and infirmity suggested a lower likelihood of recidivism, and that the conduct on which the prior conviction was based occurred prior to the ten-year time limit under the Guidelines. Id. at 1308. 7 In contrast, Sierra-Castillo does not argue that any factors other than the relative age of his conviction make his criminal history in any way exceptional or unique. 8 Because the age of a prior conviction, standing alone, is a factor that is fully provided for by the Guidelines, it does not constitute a valid basis for a downward departure. See United States v. Fletcher, 15 F.3d 553, 557 (6th Cir.1994) (noting that although the age of the defendant's convictions standing alone did not warrant a downward departure, the district court could take the age of the convictions into account when considering a departure under § 4A1.3); cf. United States v. Caldwell, 219 F.3d 1186, 1193-94 (10th Cir.2000) (noting that the relatively minor nature of a prior offense was a factor to consider under § 4A1.3 but was not, standing alone, a sufficient basis for departure). The district court's error was therefore harmless. 21