Opinion ID: 789140
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Appellate Review of Sentences After Booker/Fanfan

Text: 43 Identifying an error. In considering appellate review of sentences under the now applicable standard of reasonableness, we first note that review for reasonableness is not limited to consideration of the length of the sentence. If a sentencing judge committed a procedural error by selecting a sentence in violation of applicable law, and that error is not harmless and is properly preserved or available for review under plain error analysis, see United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 732, 113 S.Ct. 1770, 123 L.Ed.2d 508 (1993), the sentence will not be found reasonable. 44 Courts have traditionally followed a similar approach when reviewing a decision for abuse of discretion. A district judge has been deemed to have abused discretion not only because the decision on its merits exceeded the bounds of allowable discretion but also because the judge committed an error of law in the course of exercising discretion, see Koon v. United States, 518 U.S. 81, 100, 116 S.Ct. 2035, 135 L.Ed.2d 392 (1996) (The abuse-of-discretion standard includes review to determine that the discretion was not guided by erroneous legal conclusions.); Cooter & Gell v. Hartmarx Corp., 496 U.S. 384, 405, 110 S.Ct. 2447, 110 L.Ed.2d 359 (1990) (same); Zervos v. Verizon New York, Inc., 252 F.3d 163, 168-69 (2d Cir.2001) (same), or made a clearly erroneous finding of fact, see Cooter & Gell, 496 U.S. at 401, 110 S.Ct. 2447. 45 Similarly, a sentence would not be reasonable, regardless of length, if legal errors, properly to be considered on appeal, led to its imposition. Although unusual circumstances might arise that could precipitate errors not now anticipated, four types of procedural errors can usefully be identified at this point. 46 First, and most obviously, a sentencing judge would violate the Sixth Amendment by making factual findings and mandatorily enhancing a sentence above the range applicable to facts found by a jury or admitted by a defendant. That is the error that occurred in Booker's case, as the Supreme Court in its Substantive Opinion made clear. 47 Second, and less obviously, a sentencing judge would commit procedural error by mandatorily applying the applicable Guidelines range that was based solely on facts found by a jury or admitted by a defendant. The Court in its Remedy Opinion made clear that, even though the resulting sentence would not violate the Sixth Amendment, the judge would have erred by mandatorily acting under the now-excised requirement of subsection 3553(b)(1). A sentence explicitly based upon a non-existent statutory provision, even if reasonable in length, constitutes error (although possibly harmless error or not plain error), because of the unlawful method by which it was selected. It was presumably this type of error that prompted the Supreme Court to remand the sentence in Fanfan's case. Although the sentencing judge in Fanfan had anticipated the Substantive Opinion in Booker/Fanfan and had declined to sentence under the enhanced Guidelines range, the judge, understandably not anticipating the Remedy Opinion, had felt compelled by subsection 3553(b)(1) to apply the unenhanced range. The resulting sentence in Fanfan thus did not violate the Sixth Amendment, but the Supreme Court nonetheless vacated it, and remanded in order to permit either party to seek, and the District Court to undertake, resentencing. 48 Third, a sentencing judge would commit a statutory error in violation of section 3553(a) if the judge failed to consider the applicable Guidelines range (or arguably applicable ranges) as well as the other factors listed in section 3553(a), and instead simply selected what the judge deemed an appropriate sentence without such required consideration. 49 Fourth, a sentencing judge would also violate section 3553(a) by limiting consideration of the applicable Guidelines range to the facts found by the jury or admitted by the defendant, instead of considering the applicable Guidelines range, as required by subsection 3553(a)(4), based on the facts found by the court. This type of error was also presumably a basis for the remand in Fanfan's case. All of these potential errors, if available for review on appeal, would render a sentence unreasonable, regardless of length, because of the unlawfulness of the method of selection. 50 Even if reasonable as to length, a sentence unreasonable for legal error in the method of its selection is cause for concern because, in many cases, it will be impossible to tell whether the judge would have imposed the same sentence had the judge not felt compelled to impose a Guidelines sentence. It will also be impossible to tell what considerations counsel for both sides might have brought to the sentencing judge's attention had they known that they could urge the judge to impose a non-Guidelines sentence. 51 Because reasonableness is inherently a concept of flexible meaning, generally lacking precise boundaries, we decline to fashion any per se rules as to the reasonableness of every sentence within an applicable guideline or the unreasonableness of every sentence outside an applicable guideline. Indeed, such per se rules would risk being invalidated as contrary to the Supreme Court's holding in Booker/Fanfan , because they would effectively re-institute mandatory adherence to the Guidelines. See Booker/Fanfan, ___ U.S. at ___, 125 S.Ct. at 794 (Scalia, J., dissenting in part). 52 Moreover, per se rules would be inconsistent with the flexible approach courts have taken in implementing the standard of reasonableness in the sentencing contexts to which this standard applied prior to Booker/Fanfan , such as review to determine whether the extent of a departure was unreasonable, subsection 3742(e)(3), see Borrego, 388 F.3d at 70; United States v. Merritt, 988 F.2d 1298, 1311-12 (2d Cir.1993), and review to determine whether a sentence imposed in the absence of an applicable guideline was plainly unreasonable, the standard of subsections 3742(a)(4), (b)(4), (e)(4), see United States v. Aspinall, 389 F.3d 332, 349-51 (2d Cir.2004); United States v. Sweeney, 90 F.3d at 57. The Court in its Remedy Opinion explicitly noted the familiarity of appellate courts with these two statutory duties to review sentences for reasonableness. 53 This second context is especially relevant because it includes review of a sentence imposed after revocation of a term of supervised release, as authorized by subsection 3583(e)(3). Noting that the recommended terms for post-revocation imprisonment are not set forth in any guideline but are contained in policy statements, we have ruled that these statements, in this context, are advisory, rather than binding, Anderson, 15 F.3d at 284, 14 and that we would review revocation sentences imposed after considering these advisory statements to determine if the sentences were plainly reasonable, Aspinall, 389 F.3d at 349-51; Sweeney, 90 F.3d at 57. The parallel between advisory policy statements and, after Booker/Fanfan , non-binding, and therefore advisory, Guidelines seems clear. 15 54 District judges will, of course, appreciate that whatever they say or write in explaining their reasons for electing to impose a Guidelines sentence or for deciding to impose a non-Guidelines sentence will significantly aid this Court in performing its duty to review the sentence for reasonableness. In this regard, we note that, in the Remedy Opinion, the Supreme Court left unimpaired section 3553(c), which requires a district court to state in open court the reasons for its imposition of the particular sentence and, in subsection 3553(c)(2), to state in writing with specificity the reasons for imposing a sentence outside the calculated Guidelines range. 55 Disposition if error has been committed. We are aware of the admonition to appellate courts in the Remedy Opinion to bear in mind ordinary prudential doctrines such as the `plain-error' test and the harmless-error doctrine in determining whether resentencing is warranted. Remedy Opinion, ___ U.S. at ___, 125 S.Ct. at 769 (emphasis added). We have regularly applied such doctrines with respect to sentencing appeals. See, e.g., United States v. Gutierrez Rodriguez, 288 F.3d 472, 475-78 (2d Cir.2002); United States v. Thomas, 274 F.3d 655, 666 (2d Cir.2001) (in banc). In cases involving review of sentences imposed after the date of Booker/Fanfan , we would expect to apply these prudential doctrines in the customary manner. The appropriate disposition of an appeal of a sentence imposed before the date of Booker/Fanfan requires more analysis. 16 56 Several considerations illuminate the context in which a decision as to disposition must be made. First, the change in the applicable law that governs such a disposition will alter a settled pattern of sentencing law that has governed every federal sentencing for more than seventeen years. Second, the change will affect the decision-making process of every district judge in determining every sentence, even though the change in process might often not produce a change in result. Third, unlike many changes made by Congress or the Supreme Court, it will often be difficult to predict the effect of Booker/Fanfan on any particular sentencing decision, even though the aggregate effect upon sentencing patterns in general may well be modest. Fourth, the change affects sentencing, a context in which a variation in outcome will often have significance. For the Government, a change in cases of sentences below a statutory maximum might yield a higher sentence, one that offers the prospect of greater protection of the public's safety. 17 For a defendant, the change in cases of sentences above a statutory minimum might yield a lower sentence, and the value of a reduction in the duration of an individual's imprisonment has obvious significance. Fifth, the correction of error in the context of sentencing does not precipitate the burdensome and often lengthy consequence of a new trial, an event that consumes public resources and impinges upon the lives of many participants, such as witnesses, for whom a retrial can be a serious inconvenience. By contrast, a new sentencing is normally an uncomplicated proceeding of short duration. 57 Some might suppose that the only choice for an appellate court in a case presenting a procedural error in imposing a sentence is between disregarding the error and requiring a new sentencing. However, the choice is not so limited. Section 3742(f) provides: If the court of appeals determines that — (1) the sentence was imposed in violation of law ..., the court shall remand the case for further sentencing proceedings with such instructions as the court considers appropriate. Bearing in mind the several considerations outlined above that shape the context in which a disposition decision is to be made, we conclude that the further sentencing proceedings generally appropriate for pre- Booker/Fanfan sentences pending on direct review will be a remand to the district court, not for the purpose of a required resentencing, but only for the more limited purpose of permitting the sentencing judge to determine whether to resentence, now fully informed of the new sentencing regime, and if so, to resentence. Section 3742(f), read in conjunction with section 3742(g), normally contemplates a remand for resentencing. However, since an appellate court has the authority to remand for resentencing, absent harmless error or unpreserved error that does not satisfy plain error analysis, we think an appellate court necessarily has the lesser power to remand for a determination of whether to resentence, and to permit resentencing. We note that the Supreme Court's Remedy Opinion called our attention to prudential considerations in determining whether resentencing is warranted. 58 A remand for determination of whether to resentence is appropriate in order to undertake a proper application of the plain error and harmless error doctrines. Without knowing whether a sentencing judge would have imposed a materially different sentence, under the circumstances existing at the time of the original sentence, if the judge had discharged his or her obligations under the post- Booker/Fanfan regime and counsel had availed themselves of their new opportunities to present relevant considerations, an appellate court will normally be unable to assess the significance of any error that might have been made. Perhaps in some cases an appellate court could make an educated guess as to the likely outcome of a remand, but that guess might be wrong, absent a clear indication at the original sentencing supporting the inference that the same sentence would have been imposed under the post- Booker/Fanfan regime. Furthermore, even if a judge, prior to Booker/Fanfan , indicated an alternative sentence that would have been imposed if compliance with the Guidelines were not required, that alternative sentence is not necessarily the same one that the judge would have imposed in compliance with the duty to consider all of the factors listed in section 3553(a). 18 In addition, such an alternative sentence is not necessarily the same one that the judge would have imposed after presentation by the Government of aggravating circumstances or by the defendant of mitigating circumstances that existed at the time but were not available for consideration under the mandatory Guidelines regime. 19 59 Obviously, any of the errors in the procedure for selecting the original sentence discussed in this opinion would be harmless, and not prejudicial under plain error analysis, if the judge decides on remand, in full compliance with now applicable requirements, that under the post- Booker/Fanfan regime the sentence would have been essentially the same as originally imposed. Conversely, a district judge's decision that the original sentence would have differed in a nontrivial manner from that imposed will demonstrate that the error in imposing the original sentence was harmful and satisfies plain error analysis. 60 In short, a sentence imposed under a mistaken perception of the requirements of law will satisfy plain error analysis if the sentence imposed under a correct understanding would have been materially different. It is readily apparent to us that a sentence imposed prior to Booker/Fanfan was imposed without an understanding of sentencing law as subsequently explained by the Supreme Court. However, we cannot know whether a correct perception of the law would have produced a different sentence. A remand is needed to answer that question. 20 If a district court determines that a nontrivially different sentence would have been imposed, that determination completes the demonstration that the plain error test is met. 61 A remand, on a defendant's appeal, that authorizes a district judge to consider whether to resentence and that permits resentencing should include an opportunity for a defendant to avoid resentencing by promptly notifying the district judge that resentencing will not be sought.