Court Opinion

ID: 9838448
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-06 15:01:37.50547+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:05:37.467884
License: Public Domain

USCA11 Case: 22-11522    Document: 34-1      Date Filed: 09/06/2023   Page: 1 of 11

                                                    [DO NOT PUBLISH]
                                    In the
                 United States Court of Appeals
                         For the Eleventh Circuit

                           ____________________

                                 No. 22-11522
                           Non-Argument Calendar
                           ____________________

        UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
                                                       Plaintiﬀ-Appellee,
        versus
        FRANTISEK PRIBYL,

                                                    Defendant-Appellant.

                           ____________________

                  Appeal from the United States District Court
                      for the Northern District of Florida
                   D.C. Docket No. 4:17-cr-00015-MW-MAF-1
                           ____________________
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        2                      Opinion of the Court                  22-11522

        Before ROSENBAUM, LAGOA, and BRASHER, Circuit Judges.
        PER CURIAM:
                A jury convicted Frantisek Pribyl of two charges involving
        attempt to engage in illicit sexual activity with a minor. In this pro
        se appeal, Pribyl challenges the district court’s denial of his second
        motion for compassionate release and his motions for reconsidera-
        tion of that denial. The government has moved for summary affir-
        mance and to stay the briefing schedule, arguing that Pribyl’s ap-
        peal is untimely in part, and, to the extent that is timely, Pribyl has
        not shown error or an extraordinary and compelling reason for his
        release. After careful review, we agree with the government that
        summary affirmance is appropriate. Accordingly, we grant the mo-
        tion for summary affirmance and deny as moot the motion to stay
        the briefing schedule.
                                       I.

               We start with the facts of the case. In 2017, a federal grand
        jury indicted Pribyl for one count of attempting to entice a minor
        to engage in sexual activity, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b), and
        one count of knowingly traveling in interstate commerce for the
        purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, in viola-
        tion of 18 U.S.C. § 2423(b). A jury convicted him of both counts,
        and the district court sentenced him to 120 months’ imprisonment,
        followed by ten years of supervised release. We later affirmed
        Pribyl’s convictions. United States v. Pribyl, 856 F. App’x 818, 822
        (11th Cir. 2021).
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        22-11522               Opinion of the Court                          3

               After his conviction, Pribyl filed two motions for release to
        home confinement, once under the CARES Act and again under 18
        U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A), both of which the district court denied. We
        summarily affirmed those denials. United States v. Pribyl, Nos. 20-
        11848, 20-14333, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 3892, at *7 (11th Cir. Feb.
        11, 2022).
               Relevant here, Pribyl submitted a second motion under 18
        U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A), in which he sought compassionate release
        because of the war in Ukraine and the danger it posed to his family.
        The district court denied that motion, concluding that Pribyl had
        neither exhausted the administrative process nor presented a legal
        basis for compassionate release. It also denied two subsequent mo-
        tions for reconsideration.
               Pribyl appealed. His notice of appeal referenced his first mo-
        tion for reconsideration of the second motion for compassionate
        release and the district court’s order denying the second motion for
        reconsideration. Instead of filing a response brief, the government
        moved for summary affirmance and to stay the briefing schedule.
                                       II.

               Before beginning in earnest, we pause to sketch the relevant
        legal standards triggered by Pribyl’s appeal and the government’s
        motion.
               Summary affirmance is “necessary and proper” when “one
        of the parties is clearly right as a matter of law so that there can be
        no substantial question as to the outcome of the case.” Groendyke
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        4                       Opinion of the Court                   22-11522

        Transp., Inc. v. Davis, 406 F.2d 1158, 1162 (5th Cir. 1969). A motion
        for summary affirmance “postpone[s] the due date for the filing of
        any remaining brief until the court rules on such motion.” 11th Cir.
        R. 31-1(c).
               We review de novo a criminal defendant’s eligibility for com-
        passionate release. United States v. Giron, 15 F.4th 1343, 1345 (11th
        Cir. 2021). But we will affirm a district court’s denial of a prisoner’s
        compassionate release motion under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A) un-
        less we detect an abuse of discretion. United States v. Harris, 989 F.3d
        908, 911 (11th Cir. 2021). A district court’s denial of a motion for
        reconsideration receives abuse-of-discretion review too. United
        States v. Simms, 385 F.3d 1347, 1356 (11th Cir. 2004). An abuse of
        discretion occurs if a district court “applies an incorrect legal stand-
        ard, follows improper procedures in making the determination, or
        makes findings of fact that are clearly erroneous.” Harris, 989 F.3d
        at 911 (quoting Cordoba v. DIRECTV, LLC, 942 F.3d 1259, 1267 (11th
        Cir. 2019)).
                We construe pro se appeals liberally and hold pro se pleadings
        “to a less stringent standard.” Tannenbaum v. United States, 148 F.3d
        1262, 1263 (11th Cir. 1998). Still, “this leniency does not give a court
        license to serve as de facto counsel for a party” or to redraft deficient
        filings. GJR Invs., Inc. v. County of Escambia, 132 F.3d 1359, 1369 (11th
        Cir. 1998). And to save an issue from abandonment, an appellant
        must “sufficiently raise” it for our review with more than terse and
        perfunctory statements. See United States v. King, 751 F.3d 1268,
        1277 (11th Cir. 2014).
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        22-11522               Opinion of the Court                         5

                                       III.

              In its motion for summary affirmance, the government ar-
        gues that Pribyl’s appeal is untimely in part and otherwise fails on
        the merits. We start with the law governing the timeliness of an
        appeal and then address the motions at issue.
                                       A.

                Generally, a criminal defendant must file a notice of appeal
        in the district court within fourteen days after “the entry of either
        the judgment or the order being appealed.” Fed. R. App. P.
        4(b)(1)(A). A district court may grant an extension of up to thirty
        days to file a notice of appeal “[u]pon a finding of excusable neglect
        or good cause.” Id. 4(b)(4). Notably, the deadlines in Rule 4(b) are
        not jurisdictional. United States v. Lopez, 562 F.3d 1309, 1313 (11th
        Cir. 2009). In other words, a party challenging an appeal’s timeli-
        ness must raise the issue to stop the appeal from proceeding. See id.
        at 1313–14. Once raised, “we must apply the time limits of Rule
        4(b).” Id. at 1314.
               Because Rule 4(b)(4) allows a district court to extend the due
        date for a notice of appeal by up to thirty days, we usually treat a
        notice of appeal filed fewer than thirty days late as a motion for
        extension of time that should be decided by the district court. See
        United States v. Ward, 696 F.2d 1315, 1317 (11th Cir. 1983). In that
        scenario, it is our customary practice to remand for the district
        court to “determin[e] whether excusable neglect justifies an exten-
        sion” under Rule 4(b)(4). Id. at 1318.
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        6                       Opinion of the Court                  22-11522

               Under the prison mailbox rule, we consider a pro se prisoner
        to have filed a court document “on the date it is delivered to prison
        authorities for mailing.” Jeffries v. United States, 748 F.3d 1310, 1314
        (11th Cir. 2014) (quoting United States v. Glover, 686 F.3d 1203, 1205
        (11th Cir. 2012)). “Absent evidence to the contrary, we assume that
        a prisoner delivered a filing to prison authorities on the date that
        he signed it.” Id. The burden falls on the government to prove that
        a prisoner delivered a court filing “on a date other than the date the
        prisoner signed it.” Id.
               Against this backdrop, we turn to the task at hand.
                                        B.

                Pribyl’s filings are not entirely clear about the scope of his
        appeal. His notice of appeal cites the document numbers of his first
        motion for reconsideration of the second motion for compassion-
        ate release and the district court’s denial of the second motion for
        compassionate release. We have already summarily affirmed the
        district court’s denial of his previous motions for release. Pribyl,
        2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 3892, at *7. Thus, adopting, as we must, a
        liberal construction of the filings before us, see Tannenbaum, 148
        F.3d at 1263, Pribyl seems to challenge the district court’s denial of
        his (1) second motion for compassionate release, (2) first motion
        for reconsideration, and (3) second motion for reconsideration. We
        address each in turn.
                                             1.
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        22-11522                Opinion of the Court                            7

                The district court denied Pribyl’s second motion for com-
        passionate release on March 7, 2022. We deem the filing date of
        Pribyl’s appeal of that order as April 26, 2022, the date he signed
        the notice of appeal. See Jeffries, 748 F.3d at 1314. Because fifty days
        had elapsed from the date the district court entered its order,
        Pribyl’s appeal was not timely under Rule 4(b)(1)(A). See Fed. R.
        App. P. 4(b)(1)(A) (stating that “a defendant’s notice of appeal must
        be filed . . . within 14 days after . . . the entry of either the judgment
        or the order being appealed”). Nor was Pribyl eligible for an exten-
        sion of time under Rule 4(b)(4) because he filed his notice of appeal
        more than “30 days from the expiration of time otherwise pre-
        scribed by” Rule 4(b)(1)(A). See id. 4(b)(4). To qualify for an exten-
        sion of time, Pribyl would have needed to file his notice of appeal
        not more than forty-four days after the district court’s denial of his
        second compassionate release motion. See id. 4(b)(1)(A), 4(b)(4).
        Though these deadlines are not jurisdictional, the government has
        moved to enforce them, so “we must apply the time limits of Rule
        4(b).” Lopez, 562 F.3d at 1313–14. Thus, Pribyl’s appeal of the dis-
        trict court’s denial of his second motion for compassionate release
        is untimely.
                                           2.

               The district court denied Pribyl’s first motion for reconsid-
        eration of the second compassionate release motion on April 4,
        2022. Pribyl appealed that decision twenty-two days later, when he
        signed the April 26 notice of appeal. See Jeffries, 748 F.3d at 1314.
        Because Pribyl filed his notice of appeal fewer than thirty days after
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        8                      Opinion of the Court                 22-11522

        the due date prescribed by Rule 4(b)(1)(A), we could treat his late
        appeal as a motion for extension of time under Rule 4(b)(4) and
        remand to the district court so it can determine whether Pribyl has
        shown excusable neglect or good cause for the late filing. See Ward,
        696 F.2d at 1317.
                But the permissive guidance from Ward is ill-suited to
        Pribyl’s case. Pribyl timely appealed the denial of his second mo-
        tion for reconsideration, and nothing in Pribyl’s filings suggests
        that he appeals the denial of the first motion for reconsideration on
        a different basis than the second one. Instead, Pribyl’s appeal of the
        denial of his first motion for reconsideration—whether timely or
        not—rises and falls on the same arguments raised in his timely ap-
        peal of the denial of his second motion for reconsideration. So re-
        manding for the limited purpose of allowing the district court to
        make a Rule 4(b)(4) determination about whether to allow an ap-
        peal of the first motion for reconsideration would be futile. See
        Touchston v. McDermott, 234 F.3d 1133, 1157 (11th Cir. 2000)
        (Tjoflat, J., dissenting) (noting that, in some circumstances, remand
        may be inappropriate and “a waste of judicial energy and re-
        sources”). Pribyl’s request that we reverse the district court’s re-
        fusal to reconsider its denial of compassionate release can either be
        granted or denied on the merits based on our review of his timely
        appeal from the district court’s denial of his second motion to re-
        consider.
                                          3.
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        22-11522               Opinion of the Court                         9

             We now turn to the district court’s denial of Pribyl’s second
        motion to consider, which Pribyl timely appealed.
               Pribyl sought compassionate release under 18 U.S.C. §
        3582(c)(1)(A) to fight in the war in Ukraine and to protect his family
        living abroad. For the first time on appeal, however, Pribyl seems
        to advance additional bases—such as his wife’s ailments, discrimi-
        nation against him by prison officials and inmates, memory loss,
        threats of violence against him in prison, diabetes, and cancer
        risk—for the district court’s error in denying his second compas-
        sionate release motion and related motions for reconsideration.
        But Pribyl never raised those arguments at the district court, and
        they are not properly before us. See United States v. Evans, 476 F.3d
        1176, 1180 n.2 (11th Cir. 2007) (refusing to consider argument not
        made to the district court).
                Usually, a “court may not modify a term of imprisonment
        once it has been imposed.” 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c). But a court may
        grant a compassionate release motion and “reduce the term of im-
        prisonment” upon finding that “extraordinary and compelling rea-
        sons warrant such a reduction.” Id. § 3582(c)(1)(A). The U.S. Sen-
        tencing Guidelines provide the applicable policy statement for
        compassionate release motions under Section 3582(c)(1)(A). The
        Guidelines list four categories of extraordinary and compelling rea-
        sons for compassionate release: (1) the defendant’s medical condi-
        tion, (2) the defendant’s age, (3) family circumstances, and (4) other
        reasons determined by the Director of the Bureau of Prisons.
        U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13 cmt. n.1. Section 1B1.13 amounts to “an
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        10                      Opinion of the Court                  22-11522

        applicable policy statement that governs all [compassionate re-
        lease] motions.” United States v. Bryant, 996 F.3d 1243, 1262 (11th
        Cir. 2021). Thus, “district courts may not reduce a sentence under
        Section 3582(c)(1)(A) unless a reduction would be consistent with
        1B1.13.” Id. And the Sentencing Commission, not the district court,
        “is tasked with defining the universe of ‘extraordinary and compel-
        ling circumstances’ that can justify a sentence reduction.” Id. at
        1255. In other words, courts cannot craft new extraordinary and
        compelling reasons from whole cloth. See id. at 1263.
                Pribyl has not presented any valid basis for compassionate
        release. Fighting in Ukraine and protecting family members living
        abroad are not extraordinary and compelling reasons under the
        Guidelines. See U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13. And even if we considered the
        additional bases he raises for the first time on appeal, his claim still
        fails. His wife’s health, discrimination, threats of violence from
        prison staff and inmates, and non-terminal medical conditions can-
        not qualify Pribyl for compassionate release under Section 1B1.13.
        See id. The text of Section 1B1.13 controls, and courts cannot ex-
        pand the universe of extraordinary and compelling reasons for
        compassionate release unilaterally. See Bryant, 996 F.3d at 1255. Ac-
        cordingly, the district court properly denied Pribyl’s second motion
        for compassionate release and the subsequent motions for recon-
        sideration. Because there is “no substantial question as to the out-
        come of the case” and the government’s position is clearly correct
        as a matter of law, summary affirmance is warranted. See Groen-
        dyke, 406 F.2d at 1162.
                                        IV.
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        22-11522            Opinion of the Court                    11

               For these reasons, we GRANT the government’s motion for
        summary affirmance and DENY AS MOOT its motion to stay the
        briefing schedule. We AFFIRM in part and DISMISS in part.