Opinion ID: 561353
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Identification of the Factors

Text: 15 The district court is required to state its specific reason for departure. United States v. Montenegro-Rojo, 908 F.2d 425, 426 (9th Cir.1990); 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3553(c)(2). We need not search the record for permissible reasons for departure; instead we analyze the reasons actually given by the district court. Montenegro-Rojo, 908 F.2d at 428. In United States v. Ramirez Acosta, 895 F.2d 597 (9th Cir.1990), this court explained the necessity for the district court to identify clearly the relevant factors to a departure: 16 A sentencing judge departing from the applicable guideline range must state specifically his or her reasons for doing so. See 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3553(c)(2). There is, however, no requirement that the sentencing judge recite the specific language of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3553(b). In United States v. Michel, 876 F.2d 784, 786 (9th Cir.1989), this court vacated a district court sentencing order where a conclusory statement did not clearly identify a specific aggravating circumstance not adequately considered by the sentencing commission. In United States v. Wells, 878 F.2d 1232, 1233 (9th Cir.1989), we vacated a sentence because the conclusory statement by the district court was inadequate to permit meaningful appellate review of the district court's departure from the guidelines. We stated in Wells that the district court must point to specific aspects of [the defendant's] criminal history which it believes have not been taken into account adequately by the [Sentencing Commission's (Commission) ] guidelines. Id. 17 Id. at 601. 18 Here a thorough examination of the district court's stated rationale reveals that the court was apparently addressing four reasons: (1) appellee was convicted several years before sentencing; (2) the incident which raised appellee's criminal history category was merely a parole violation; (3) based upon the court's own experience with cases of similar crimes, the sentencing range was high; and (4) appellee's use of drugs was brought about by an opiate addiction which happened during the process of recovery from a motorcycle accident. 19