Court Opinion

ID: 9481962
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 08:36:22.811541+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:48:40.852349
License: Public Domain

BALDOCK, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I concur in that part of the judgment affirming the defendant’s conviction. I write separately, however, because I cannot agree with that part of the judgment *1027affirming the sentence with its downward departure from career offender status.
The presentence report indicates that defendant has two prior convictions for crimes of violence. Defendant was convicted in Montgomery County, Kansas of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, aggravated robbery and kidnapping in connection with the February 5, 1984, robbery of a convenience store. Defendant also was convicted in Sedgwick County, Kansas of aggravated robbery in connection with the April 1, 1984, robbery of another convenience store. Defendant used a handgun in both robberies. Finally, defendant was convicted of distribution of crack cocaine, a controlled substance offense, in connection with the sale of crack cocaine to undercover agents on January 10-11, 1990. Defendant was paroled from his state sentences on January 19, 1989. While on parole, defendant became a mid-level distributor of crack cocaine. II R. ¶¶ 13, 32; III R. 85-88. Defendant qualifies as a career offender under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1 because he committed the instant controlled substance offense while at least eighteen years of age and because he has two prior felony convictions involving crimes of violence.
U.S.S.G. § 4A1.3, p.s. (1990) allows a district court to depart downward when a criminal history category overrepresents seriousness. Departure is a possibility when “the defendant’s conduct is exaggerated by the criminal history score.” United States v. Brown, 903 F.2d 540, 645 (8th Cir.1990) (emphasis supplied). In United States v. Maldonado-Campos, 920 F.2d 714, 719, 719 n. 2 (10th Cir.1990), we determined that a downward departure based upon § 4A1.3 is tied to 18 U.S.C. § 3553(b),1 which allows departure only in the presence of “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.” Given the Sentencing Commission’s comprehensive treatment of the factors involved in sentencing and the Congressional goals of uniformity and proportionality in sentencing, we have determined that “departures should rarely occur.” United States v. Jackson, 921 F.2d 985, 989 (10th Cir.1990) (en banc). Downward departures from career offender status based on overstated seriousness of past criminal history should occur only in truly unusual cases. United States v. Adkins, 937 F.2d 947 (4th Cir.1991). The district court departed downward solely on the authority of § 4A1.3 because defendant’s pri- or violent crimes occurred when he was twenty years old and within a two-month period. IV R. 9. The district court also relied upon the fact that defendant received concurrent sentences for these crimes. None of these factors, alone or in combination, justify departure because all were adequately considered in formulating the Sentencing Guidelines. This is not “an atypical case, one to which a particular guideline [here § 4B1.1] linguistically applies but where conduct significantly differs from the norm.” See U.S.S.G. ch. 1, pt. A intro., § 4(b), p.s. (emphasis added). See also United States v. Williams, 891 F.2d 962, 967 (1st Cir.1989) (truly unusual circumstances resulting in meaningful atypicality needed for departure). In deciding whether the Sentencing Commission adequately considered the mitigating circumstances relied upon by the district court in granting a downward departure under § 4A1.3, our review is de novo. Maldonado-Campos, 920 F.2d at 719-20.
*1028Merely because the defendant was twenty years old when he committed the two separate armed robberies does not justify departure. Age has been considered in formulating the Guidelines. See 28 U.S.C. § 994(d)(1) (Commission instructed to consider relevance of age). The Sentencing Commission has provided a framework to evaluate offenses committed prior to age eighteen, see, e.g., U.S.S.G. §§ 4A1.2(d) (criminal history computation), 4B1.1 (career offender provision), but otherwise has counseled that “[a]ge is not ordinarily relevant in determining whether a sentence should be outside the guidelines.” U.S.S.G. § 5H1.1, p.s. (emphasis supplied). The only example given by the Commission of when age might justify a downward departure involves post-offense considerations: "Age may be a reason to go below the guidelines when the offender is elderly and infirm and where a[n alternate] form of punishment {e.g., home confinement) might be equally efficient and less costly than incarceration.” Id. (emphasis in original). See also United States v. Doe, 921 F.2d 340, 347 (1st Cir.1990) (discussion of example); United States v. Carey, 895 F.2d 318, 324 (7th Cir.1990) (same). A district court may consider age in the context of deciding where to sentence within the guideline range. See United States v. Mondello, 927 F.2d 1463, 1470 (9th Cir. 1991); United States v. Lara-Velasquez, 919 F.2d 946, 955 n. 11 (5th Cir.1990); United States v. Garcia, 919 F.2d 1478, 1481 (10th Cir.1990). But only extraordinary circumstances warrant a departure based in whole or in part upon age. See United States v. Lopez, 938 F.2d 1293 (D.C.Cir.1991); United States v. Shoupe, 929 F.2d 116, 120 (3rd Cir.1991); Mondello, 927 F.2d at 1470; United States v. Daiagi, 892 F.2d 31, 32 (4th Cir.1989). See also United States v. Pena, 930 F.2d 1486, 1495 (10th Cir.1991) (under U.S.S.G. § 5H1.6 family ties and responsibilities were relevant, given extraordinary circumstances including aberrational nature of defendant’s conduct). Departures based in whole or in part upon age are appropriate only when “substantial atypicality” distinguishes a particular case from the typical case described by each guideline. United States v. Norflett, 922 F.2d 50, 54 (1st Cir.1990). Merely because the defendant was twenty when he committed two armed robberies is not extraordinary; violent crime among the young is all too common. See Shoupe, 929 F.2d at 120; United States v. Summers, 893 F.2d 63, 69 (4th Cir.1990) (nothing extraordinary about being a twenty-three-year-old adult; departure based upon age was unreasonable). Likewise, downward departure due to defendant’s age is inconsistent with deterrence and protection of the public, see 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2)(A)-(C), and the Sentencing Commission’s view of the relevance of criminal history.
According to the Commission:
A defendant’s past criminal history is directly relevant to [the] purposes [of sentencing set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2) ]. A defendant with a record of prior criminal behavior is more culpable than a first offender and thus deserving of greater punishment. General deterrence of criminal conduct dictates that a clear message be sent to society that repeated criminal behavior will aggravate the need for punishment with each recurrence. To protect the public from further crimes of the particular defendant, the likelihood of recidivism and future criminal behavior must be considered.
U.S.S.G. ch. 4, pt. A, intro, comment, (emphasis supplied). In this case, the district court failed to consider recidivism in its downward departure decision pursuant to § 4A1.3. This court excuses the omission because it predated our decision in Maldonado-Campos, 920 F.2d at 720; however, the requirement that recidivism be considered in a downward departure is a statutory directive, 18 U.S.C. § 3553(b), 3553(a)(2)(C), and is discussed in the guidelines, U.S.S.G. ch. 4, pt. A, intro, comment.; § 4A1.3 p.s. & comment, (backg’d) (noting that criminal history score for younger defendants may be inadequate given previous lenient treatment and such defendants “may pose a greater risk of serious recidivism”). See also United States v. Lawrence, 916 F.2d 553, 554 (9th Cir.1990) (dis*1029trict court considered recidivism in departing downward from career offender provision). Consideration of recidivism seems especially appropriate in this case given that defendant’s second armed robbery was committed within two months of his first and the instant drug offenses were committed within one year of defendant’s release on parole. This case does not involve a sustained break in criminal activity other than when defendant was incarcerated. See Shoupe, 929 F.2d at 122 (Rosenn, J., dissenting) (considering a ten year break in criminal activity as a factor warranting downward departure from career offender provision).
Departure is not justified on the basis that defendant’s prior armed robberies occurred within two months of one another. Nor is it justified on the basis that the Montgomery County, Kansas court decided that defendant’s sentence should run concurrently with the earlier imposed Sedg-wick County, Kansas sentence. The Commission has implemented the Congressional directive that career offenders be sentenced “to a term of imprisonment at or near the maximum term authorized.” 18 U.S.C. § 994(h). The guidelines provide ample authority on how to handle defendant’s previous two convictions, contrary to this court’s statements that the guidelines do not specifically address these issues. See Ct.Op. at 1024-25.
The career offender provision provides that whether felony convictions are merged or counted separately is determined with respect to U.S.S.G. ch. 4 pt. A. See U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(3) & comment, (n. 4). Separate counting is appropriate when the cases are unrelated. U.S.S.G. § 4A1.2(a)(2). Cases are merged only if they “(1) occurred on a single occasion, (2) were part of a common scheme or plan, or (3) were consolidated for trial or sentencing.” U.S.S.G. § 4A1.2, comment, (n. 3). This methodology precludes merger of the defendant’s criminal convictions for armed robberies which occurred within two months of one another. It also precludes merger of the defendant’s criminal convictions merely because one state district court decided that defendant’s sentence should run concurrently with that imposed by another state district court. In no way were the defendant’s armed robbery convictions “consolidated for trial or sentencing,” U.S.S.G. § 4A1.2, comment, (n. 3); thus, the court’s reliance on this provision concerning misrepresentation of seriousness is anomalous2 and misplaced. The explicit recognition of a rule determining whether offenses should be merged represents implicit rejection of a rule which would allow merger based on a short time span between different offenses or based upon the interaction of different sentences imposed by different courts. See Shoupe, 929 F.2d at 120 (rejecting departure from career offender status because armed robbery and subsequent burglary were merely nine months apart). As noted by the Fifth Circuit, “career offender status was meant to apply not only to those defendants with long criminal histories but also to those who repeatedly commit drug-related or violent crimes, irrespective of the time-frame.” United States v. Harrison, 918 F.2d 30, 31 (5th Cir.1990) (rejecting departure from career offender status because five controlled substance violations occurred within two years).
I cannot agree with this court’s conclusion that the “unique combination of factors in defendant’s criminal history was not considered sufficiently by the Sentencing Commission to justify rigid application of the career offender criminal history categorization.” Ct.Op. at 1025. The court recognizes that, taken alone, each of the factors would be an improper ground for *1030departure. None warrants departure because all were “adequately taken into consideration by the Sentencing Commission in formulating the guidelines.” See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(b). Given that none of the factors warrants departure, the “three factors in combination,” Ct.Op. at 1025, likewise do not, and a downward departure for an over-representation of seriousness is inappropriate.3 See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(b).
The idea that “[w]e cannot parse the factors, holding each one separately for consideration, without unfairly abusing the trial court’s judgment,” Ct.Op. at 1025, is not only inconsistent with this court’s analysis (which ultimately finds each factor wanting, thus necessitating combination), but also with the numerous cases which have cast aside factors which do not permit departure. See, e.g., Shoupe, 929 F.2d at 119-20 (each factor independently analyzed; departure unwarranted because all factors adequately considered); United States v. Studley, 907 F.2d 254, 257-58, 260 (1st Cir.1990) (each factor relied upon by district court must be examined for atypicality; each factor adequately considered and departure unwarranted); Williams, 891 F.2d at 966 (“Draining the impermissible ingredients from the stew leaves precious little in the departure pot.”); United States v. Aguilar-Pena, 887 F.2d 347, 351 (1st Cir.1989) (each factor examined for atypicality; each factor adequately considered and departure unwarranted); United States v. Nuno-Para, 877 F.2d 1409, 1414 (9th Cir.1989) (each of two factors examined; each factor adequately considered). If every factor relied upon by the district court was adequately eon-sidered by the Sentencing Commission, the factors in combination cannot change that fact. We have cautioned that “ ‘[a] court should not mold typical criminal conduct or defendant characteristics into atypicality merely to achieve a departure from the guidelines,’ ” because such an approach threatens uniformity. Maldonado-Campos, 920 F.2d at 720 n. 3 (quoting Studley, 907 F.2d at 257). Today’s opinion is an invitation to circumvent the guidelines by combining factors adequately considered by the guidelines, claiming that the combination of factors is unique, and then departing. As stated by the First Circuit:
Regardless of how well founded, a belief by the sentencing judge that the punishment set by the Commission is too severe or that the guidelines are too inflexible may not be judicial grounds for departure under the sentencing system mandated by Congress. The crux of the matter is whether the guidelines have taken the principal sentencing factors into account. When they have, the sentencing court is not then at liberty to depart, regardless of whether the judge’s independent consideration of those factors reasonably differs from the Commission’s.
Studley, 907 F.2d at 260.
For the above reasons, I respectfully dissent.

. 18 U.S.C. 3553(b) provides in pertinent part:
Application of guidelines in imposing sentence. — The court shall impose a sentence of the kind, and within the range, referred to in subsection (a)(4) unless the court finds that 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. In determining whether a circumstance was adequately taken into consideration, the court shall consider only the sentencing guidelines, policy statements and official commentary of the Sentencing Commission. In the absence of an applicable sentencing guideline, the court shall impose an appropriate sentence, having due regard for the purposes set forth in subsection (a)(2).

. Plainly, this case does not involve consolidated sentencing. Defendant was sentenced by different courts on different dates for different offenses. Even if it did, however, the court’s observation that "consolidated sentencing ... is generally appropriate for judicial adjustment to fit individual circumstances,” Ct.Op. at 1025, would be of little benefit to the defendant, for the guidelines make it clear that such consolidated sentencing may well "result in a criminal history score that underrepresents the seriousness of defendant’s criminal history and the danger that he presents to the public." U.S.S.G. § 4A1.2, comment, (n. 3). In such cases, the district court is advised to consider upward, not downward, departure pursuant to § 4A1.3. Id.

. In United States v. Smith, 909 F.2d 1164, 1169-70 (8th Cir.1990), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 111 S.Ct. 691, 112 L.Ed.2d 682 (1991), defendant was convicted in connection with his cocaine distribution activities. Id. at 1165. The Eighth Circuit determined that the district court correctly departed downward from the career offender provision because the defendant’s previous criminal career "was neither extensive nor long." Id. at 1169. The prior convictions involved burglary resulting in a loss of $1,000 and sales of LSD for $400 to an undercover agent. The offenses occurred within two-month period while defendant was nineteen and he received probation. Id. Whatever the merits of the Eighth Circuit's resolution, our case is distinguishable. It is difficult to classify defendant’s repeated armed robberies of convenience stores (one of which involved kidnapping), with the attendant danger to human life, as “relatively minor" insofar as a criminal career is concerned. But see United States v. Senior, 935 F.2d 149, 150-51 (8th Cir.1991) (affirming downward departure from career offender status based upon overstated seriousness of past criminal history which included three robberies and two controlled substance offenses).