Court Opinion

ID: 9460754
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 21:59:34.246723+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:36:46.117776
License: Public Domain

SWYGERT, Chief Judge
(dissenting).
The majority acknowledges that it is “the better practice for a trial court, before final sentencing or probation, to order a presentence investigation and report.” Nevertheless, it is said that failure to utilize a presentence report does not amount to an abuse of discretion “when there clearly is no need for the same.” Consistent with past decisions in this circuit, the majority finds no abuse of discretion where it can be demonstrated from the record that a minimum of mitigating facts pertaining to the defendant existed, known to the judge, and that the presentence report constituted in essence mere surplusage beyond the minimum level of knowledge needed by the trial judge to fix the defendant’s sentence.
I cannot agree with the majority that the record amply demonstrates that the trial judge’s imposition of a six-year sentence on the defendant Rosciano was “the result of a considered judgment.” Moreover, even assuming that the trial judge possessed the minimum level of information required to fairly impose a sentence on Rosciano, I would still find that his failure to order a presentenee report was an abuse of discretion. That is, rather only suggest to the district courts what is admittedly “the better practice,” I would hold that absent substantial reasons for nonusage of the report, explicitly articulated by the trial judge, such failure to use a presentence report amounts to an abuse of discretion.
As the Second Circuit has noted with respect to the nonuse.of presentence reports: “Some circuits are evidently uneasy about the problem, however, and justified the lack of [the] report because all the necessary information had been made available in some other manner or because the sentence was lenient.” United States v. Warren, 453 F.2d 738, 744 (2d Cir. 1972). The majority here takes a similar approach. •
My reading of the record, however, does not indicate that at the time of the initial sentencing hearing the court was in possession of all necessary information. The record tends to demonstrate that the trial judge was interested in the expeditious disposition of the sentencing procedure and summarily rejected a presentence investigation. The pertinent colloquy is set forth below.1
*171At the sentencing hearing statements in mitigation were made on behalf of each of the six defendants sentenced. The Government offered rebuttal in each instance. Immediately after the conclusion of the testimony with respect to the final defendant the court without further deliberation or consideration sentenced six of the defendants.2
Nor do I perceive Rosciano’s six-year sentence to be lenient in view of his meager involvement in the theft. Roseiano’s efforts were minimal and consisted primarily of helping to unload the stolen merchandise from the truck. Rosciano owned a gas station adjacent to the business operation, Universal Lawn and Garden Supply Company, at which the stolen goods were unloaded and stored. Rosciano testified that he frequently assisted in unloading trucks delivering landscaping goods to Universal Lawn and that he had dealt with Universal Lawn for seven years due to the fact that he was a landscaping contractor. He testified that to his knowledge he had never helped unload stolen goods. Rosciano’s testimony was contradicted by David Buss, one of the principal planners and perpetrators of the theft. Buss pleaded guilty and testified on behalf of the Government.3 As a result of *172the assistance in unloading the stolen merchandise valued at $53,875 Rosciano apparently received an electric shaver. For his effort he was convicted of possession of stolen property — although he was found not güilty with respect to the charge of conspiracy to possess stolen goods — and sentenced to six years imprisonment. Although the other defendants played a much more active role in the perpetration of the theft and were 'found guilty on both the substantive count and conspiracy count, nevertheless, they received concurrent sentences only two to foúr years in excess of that imposed on Rosciano for the conviction on the single count. Indeed the three principal planners and perpetrators of the theft, after pleas of guilty and the grant of their requests for presentence reports, were given suspended sentences and placed on probation for periods ranging between three and five years.
The disparity in treatment in this ease is extraordinary to say the least. The three principal offenders, who planned the theft and stole the truck containing a fifty thousand dollar cargo, received probation after pleading guilty and after the judge received presentence reports as to them. Rosciano, who played a peripheral, minor role in helping unload the truck and who received a Ronson shaver for his services and who requested a trial by jury, received six years imprisonment after the judge refused out of hand to order a presentence report. Accordingly, I find nothing in the record to justify the court’s refusal to use a presentence report.
Under the circumstances such refusal amounted to an abuse of discretion since there was an absence of explicit and substantial reasons for not having a presentence report prior to pronouncement of the sentence. The reasons for not utilizing a presentence report should be clearly articulated by a trial judge and not left to the speculation of appellate judges in an effort to justify th& trial court’s failure to state reasons for its inaction. As stated by the Second Circuit in United States v. Warren, 453 F.2d 738, 744 (2d Cir. 1972):
It would be wise, however, for trial judges, in those rare cases in which they dispense with the presentence report, to state on the record the reasons for failing to make use of a tool which has proven helpful in individualizing and thus improving the sentencing process. Such a requirement will provoke thought about the decision to bypass this potentially valuable step in the criminal process.
It cannot be gainsaid that the rule on presentence reports vests broad discretion with the trial judge as to its use.4 That discretion, however, does not vest the trial judge with authority to arbitrarily reject the use of the presentence report. Yet the majority countenances such arbitrary action by adhering to an approach that does not require the trial judge to explicitly detail his reasons for nonuse of the presentence report. Courts which have been adamant in imposing a requirement of statement of reasons on local draft boards and administrative agencies should not be reticent in imposing a similar requirement with respect to the use of a tool that has become well-nigh standard practice in federal courts. See McGee v. United States, 462 F.2d 243, 247 (2d Cir. 1972).
In addition I would require that the reasons stated in an effort to justify nonuse of the presentence report must be substantial. To that end I do not consider the mere saving of time of it*173self sufficient to justify nonusage of the report.5 Moreover, the fact that the report may be duplicative of defendant’s efforts at mitigation is not necessarily of itself a sufficient basis for not using the report. Even assuming duplication of effort, the fact remains that the presentence report rises above mere surplusage for it stands as the effort of an independent -agency responsible to the court and not the self-serving statements of an adversary on behalf of his client. Any recommendations or findings emanating from the presentence report which are favorable to a defendant are no doubt given more credence than similar recommendations and findings by a defendant and his counsel. Accordingly, even if duplicative, the presentence report represents a beneficial source of information that can be relied upon and as such outweighs any troublesomeness due to its allegedly repetitive nature.
With all due deference and respect to my- brethren in the majority, my reading of the record has failed to uncover any statement of reasons by the trial judge —let alone those that approach the stature of explicit and substantial — justifying his dispensing of a presentence report. Accordingly, on the basis of the foregoing, I would find that the trial judge' abused his discretion.
I find it • somewhat anomalous that courts are fastidious in safeguarding a criminal defendant’s rights prior to a verdict of guilt, yet upon being convicted we fail to adhere to our zeal to assure the defendant our full and fair attention on the equally important aspect of sentencing. When a defendant challenges the sentencing procedure, we often seek to avoid confrontation by uttering the rubric: Sentencing is a matter of broad discretion, including the procedures attending it. But while discretion is a sine qua non, it has its limits. We scarcely need to be reminded that sentencing has a tremendous and far-reaching impact on the life of a human being.
I would remand to the district court for consideration of a presentence report.

. MR. SIKES: I would assume that your Honor would order a presentence investigation—
THE COURT: No, I don’t intend to order a presentence investigation. I will set this matter down for sentencing as to all defend*171ants on — What do we have scheduled for Friday?
THE CLERK: We are supposed to start a trial tomorrow afternoon.
THE COURT: I have the trial with you.
MR. SIKES : Yes, your Honor.
THE CLERK: Just ruling on motions and those two motions with the case with the nineteen defendants. The matter where you were going to appoint counsel for them.
THE COURT: Yes. Well, I can proceed with sentencing — Can the government be prepared on Friday?
MR. FAHNER: We can, your Honor.
MR. LYDON: Yes, your Honor.
THE COURT: All right.
THE COURT: Well, I certainly find no objection to increasing the bond to $9,000. I think that’s a reasonable request and the bonds will be so increased.
MR. SMITH: Your Honor, may I be heard on behalf of Rosciano?
THE COURT: Yes.
MR. SMITH: Mr. Rosciano has no previous convictions. There is one previous arrest. He is a man who has a home, who is a homeowner and everything else—
THE COURT: Well, I’m going to go ah'ead with the sentencing on Friday so not much time is going to be involved here. If you can make the bonds tonight, you can make them tonight. . If you can’t make them tonight. . . .

. Although nine defendants were charged with the theft, three of them pleaded guilty and were sentenced at separate proceedings subsequent to the sentencing of the six defendants found guilty by the jury.

. Buss’ testimony on this point was as follows :
A We were all stacking and counting. The heavy-set guy [Rosciano] had a packing slip to go by.
Q Do you know where he got that packing slip?
A It was inside the trailer.
Q And did you finally finish stacking the boxes and taking a count of them?
A. Yes, we did.
Q Then what happened, sir?
A We were hungry, so the heavy-set guy went out for something to eat and he finally came back. We had sandwiches.
Q All right. And while you were having the sandwiches, did you have any conversation at that time?
A Yes.
Q And who was present at that time, at the time of that conversation?
A The smaller guy, the heavy-set guy and myself.
Q And would you please relate to the ladies and gentlemen of the jury the conversation, stating who said what.
A The heavy-set guy said he wanted a Ronson shaver, because there weren’t very many of them anyway, and I said that if he were to ask Bob, he probably could get one.
Q All right. Was there any further conversation at that time?
A I can’t recall.
Q All right. Then what happened?
A About the time that we were finishing eating Bob and Joe Pagone finally arrived and came back.
Q All right. After Bob and Joe Pagone returned, what happened next?
A There was a discrepancy in the count and so we had to count all of the boxes again.
Q Well, who was present at that time?
A Bob, Joe Pagone, the heavy-set guy and the smaller guy and myself.
*172Q Could you please tell us who was doing what, specifically.
A Well, Bob was taking the inventory at this time and Joe Pagone and the heavier-set guy and the smaller guy and myself, we were re-stacking and re-counting.

. The relevant portion of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 32(c) (1) provides :
The probation service of the court shall make a presentence investigation and report to the court before the imposition of sentence or the granting of probation unless the court otherwise directs. The report shall not be submitted to the court or its contents disclosed to anyone unless the defendant has pleaded guilty or has been found guilty.

. It is most noteworthy that the proposed amendment to Rule 32(c)(1) proposed by the Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules provides that utilization of the presentence report is mandatory except in four explicit situations where the court has discretion to dispense with the report. The proposed rules provide:
(c) PRESENTENCE INVESTIGATION.
(1) When Made. The probation service of the court shall make a presentenee investigation and report to the court before the imposition of sentence or the granting of probation, except that the court, at its discretion, may dispense with a presentence report, in the following situations:
(i) If the maximum penalty is one year or less;
(ii) If the defendant has two or more prior felony convictions;
(iii) If the defendant refuses to be interviewed by the probation department or requests that disposition be made without a presentence report;
(iv) If it is impractical to verify the background of the defendant.
As the Advisory Committee Note indicates this change in the rule has as its “principal objective uniformity in presentence practice throughout the federal system and fairness to the defendant to be sentenced.”