Court Opinion

ID: 9472623
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 04:05:58.727735+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:43:02.633025
License: Public Domain

ESCHBACH, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
The majority holds that this case must be remanded to the district court for resen-tencing. In doing so, it concludes that the district court erred in neither assuring the defendant access to his presentence report nor making specific findings about the exact number of marijuana fields for which the defendant was to be held responsible. The majority also concludes that the defendant has met his burden of establishing that the district court relied on materially false information in imposing sentence. United States v. Harris, 558 F.2d 366 (7th Cir.1977).
In so holding, the majority relies primarily on the defendant’s unsubstantiated allegations, made for the first time in this court. While it is undisputed that the defendant’s attorney read the report, the defendant claims that he never saw the report and that his attorney never visited him during the interim period between the entry of his guilty plea and the sentencing hearing. Further, the majority suggests— with no apparent basis in the record1 — that the report was not available at least a reasonable time before sentencing.
No attempt was made to present any of these allegations to the sentencing court in the first instance under Fed.R.Crim.P. 35. See United States v. Papajohn, 701 F.2d 760 (8th Cir.1983); United States v. Madonna, 582 F.2d 704, 705 (2d Cir.1978), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 1069, 99 S.Ct. 838, 59 L.Ed.2d 34 (1979). Had the defendant done so, we would be able to review his claims on the basis of more than speculation. What can be said on the basis of the record, however, is the following. Defense counsel, who was representing only one defendant, stated:
*1177In reference to the pre-sentencing report, we have only one point of clarification .... Anything else in the pre-sentenc-ing report ... we agree with fully and completely.
(Emphasis added.) The majority interprets counsel’s use of the plural as either an indication that he intended misleadingly to effect a waiver of his client’s rights or as evidence of counsel’s incompetence. I believe that counsel’s representations are equally — and more plausibly — susceptible to the interpretation that counsel and the defendant had reviewed the report. Indeed, counsel’s statements make no sense unless he had at least discussed the report with his client, since most of the report was concerned with the defendant’s family situation and the circumstances of his arrest.2
Moreover, as the majority points out, the only dispute the defendant now raises with the facts contained in the presentence report which he did not also raise before the sentencing court is his contention that the government overvalued the market price of the marijuana. In support of its remand, the majority relies on the rationale behind amended Rule 32:
The [Advisory Committee] Notes thus emphasize the role of the defendant, in contrast even with that of counsel, in reviewing the report so as to “significantly reduce [ ] the likelihood that false statements will [not] be discovered, as much of the content of the presentence report will ordinarily be outside the knowledge of counsel.”
Ante at 1173. As the Advisory Committee Notes also make clear, the reason for mandating that the defendant be given an opportunity to view the report is that the report is likely to contain historical facts, the truth of which only the defendant could dispute. For instance, many presentence reports contain allegations that the defendant has been involved in other criminal activity for which he has not been convicted. Defense counsel could not know whether these allegations are true or not; such information is peculiarly within the knowledge of the defendant.
Rone’s challenge to the valuation of the marijuana is not based on any claimed expertise on his part in valuing narcotics. On the contrary, he relies in this court on the affidavit of a Harvard professor of biology to contest that valuation. See ante at 1171. This evidence was not presented to the court below, nor did the defendant dispute the value assigned to the marijuana below, although he was present when his attorney, in open court, repeated the valuation given in the report and the government attorney stated his lesser estimation based on the marijuana for which Rone actually claimed responsibility. See Disposition Hearing, 3-5.
Perhaps a simple inquiry, such as the one the majority now requires, would assure that a record is developed demonstrating compliance with Rule 32. But on the record before us, where there is no clear indication of noncompliance with the disclosure provisions of the rule, I cannot agree with the majority’s holding that the district court erred in this regard.
I also cannot agree with the majority’s holding that the defendant has met his burden of establishing that the district court relied on materially false information in making its sentencing decision. United States v. Harris, 558 F.2d 366, 375 (7th Cir.1977). Relying on the aforementioned affidavit submitted in this court, the defendant claims that only two percent of the marijuana plant is valuable (a contention which the majority finds “intuitively correct”). The majority accepts the defendant’s claim that “the report figures are based not merely on the weight of the useable parts of the marijuana plant but on the weight of the entire plant, including roots, stems, and dirt.” Ante at 1174. There is simply no evidence that the report figures were derived in the manner suggested by the majority: the report itself *1178merely states that subsequent to defendant’s arrest, “856 Sinsemillia cannabis plants weighing approximately 1090 pounds with a street value of $1,646,000 ... were seized.” Moreover, I do not believe that the district court’s reliance on the figures in the report has been shown. While stating that “it looks like [the value] was in the neighborhood of maybe a million dollars,” the judge also noted, “I suppose to some extent it’s anybody's speculation as to the total amount that would have been realized had it gone on the street.... Disposition Hearing, 5-6.
What is manifestly clear from the district court judge’s sentencing comments is that he relied on his concern for deterring other potential drug growers and the “substantial amount” of marijuana seized. The majority holds that the judge erred again in failing to make findings about the number of marijuana fields for which he was holding defendant responsible. A reading of the remarks at sentencing shows that the judge, noting that defendant was arrested in the fields for which he claimed responsibility, and that those fields were in the same area as the other fields, expressly discredited defendant’s denial of more extensive involvement:
I think it would have meant more to the Court if you had made a complete [sic] breast of everything. Now you may say you have and you may have. You just haven’t convinced the Court.
Disposition Hearing, 6-7. I do not believe, as does the majority, that we need “read[ ] between the lines” to find that the district court judge rejected defendant’s contention.
„ , , T For the reasons expressed above, I can- ... . . T í-c i not lom the maiority opinion. I respectful- ... ^ issen •

. The only possible explanation in the record for the majority’s statement is that the report is dated four days before the sentencing hearing was held. Whether this was reasonable or not under the circumstances is a factual determination that we are not competent to make.

. If this is not the case, then defendant’s silence in the face of his attorney’s representations is inexplicable, especially in light of the fact that after his attorney concluded his remarks, defendant himself addressed the court.