Court Opinion

ID: 2964608
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2015-09-21 21:28:13.273706+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:01:51.795963
License: Public Domain

USCA1 Opinion

	

                            UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
                                 ____________________

        No. 96-1507

                                    UNITED STATES,

                                      Appellee,

                                          v.

                                   EDWIN P. JOSEPH,

                                Defendant, Appellant.

                                 ____________________

                     APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

                           FOR THE DISTRICT OF RHODE ISLAND

                    [Hon. Ronald R. Lagueux, U.S. District Judge]
                                             ___________________

                                 ____________________

                                        Before

                                  Cyr, Circuit Judge,
                                       _____________

                     Aldrich and Campbell, Senior Circuit Judges.
                                           _____________________

                                 ____________________

            Louis F. Robbio with  whom Robbio & Nottie,  Ltd. was on brief for
            _______________            ______________________
        appellant.
            Margaret E. Curran, Assistant United States Attorney, and  Sheldon
            __________________                                         _______
        Whitehouse, United States Attorney, were on brief for appellee.
        __________

                                 ____________________

                                    March 20, 1997
                                 ____________________

                      CAMPBELL, Senior Circuit Judge.   This is an appeal
                                ____________________

            from  the  district  court's  partial  denial  of  defendant-

            appellant Edwin P.  Joseph's 28  U.S.C.   2255  motion.   The

            district  court, applying the Supreme Court's recent decision

            in  Bailey v. United States, 116 S. Ct. 501 (1995), dismissed
                ______    _____________

            Joseph's 1991 conviction under  18 U.S.C.   924(c) (use  of a

            firearm during and  in relation to a drug trafficking crime),

            and  vacated his sixty  month sentence  for that  offense, of

            which  Joseph had  already  served over  half.   Noting  that

            Joseph had long since completed serving  the sentences on two

            other charges to  which    along with the    924(c) charge   

            he had pleaded guilty in 1991, the district court ordered his

            release.     However,  the  court  also   directed  that  the

            concurrent  three  and  five year  supervised  release  terms

            stemming from the two other charges begin operating.

                      Joseph argues on appeal, as he did in his 28 U.S.C.

              2255 motion, that the court erred in not ordering the terms

            of  supervised  release to  have begun  on  the date  the two

            served  sentences  had ended,  to wit  on December  22, 1992,

            rather than on the date of his actual release in 1996.  Under

            this  theory,  Joseph's  supervised release  terms  would  be

            reduced  by  the  time he  spent  in  prison  under the  now-

            dismissed    924(c) conviction.   Alternatively,  Joseph asks

            that the supervised release terms be eliminated altogether to

            compensate him for the  deprivation of his freedom, resulting

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            from the wrongful conviction and sentence under   924(c).  We

            do  not accept  Joseph's contention  and affirm  the district

            court's direction that the supervisory release terms commence

            on the actual release date.

                                          I.
                                          I.

                      On June 27, 1991, agents of the Bureau  of Alcohol,

            Tobacco and Firearms arrived at Joseph's residence to execute

            arrest and  search warrants.   While searching  the residence

            for weapons, the agents  found several weapons, along with  a

            small  quantity of  cocaine and  a scale.   The  weapons were

            located in  a closet in  the living  room, under a  couch and

            under a mattress in the bedroom.  Joseph was arrested.  

                      On July 31, 1991, Joseph pleaded guilty to a three-

            count information charging him with illegal sale of firearms,

            in violation of 18 U.S.C.   922(a)(5) (count one); possession

            with intent to  distribute cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C.

              841(a)(1) (count two);  and use of a firearm during  and in

            relation to a drug crime, in violation of 18 U.S.C.    924(c)

            (count three).  

                      On October  10, 1991, the district  court sentenced

            Joseph to  concurrent twenty-one month terms  of imprisonment

            on counts one and two, and  a consecutive sixty month term on

            count three,  as mandated by  the statute.   See 18  U.S.C.  
                                                         ___

            924(c)(1) (West Supp. 1996).  The district court also imposed

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            a supervised release term of three years on count  one, and a

            concurrentsupervised release term of five years on count two.

                      On or about March 31,  1993, Joseph filed his first

            28 U.S.C.    2255 motion.   He alleged,  among other  things,

            that he had been deprived of  his right to appeal because  of

            counsel's ineffective assistance.  The district court reduced

            the amount of the  fine imposed to $20,000 from  the original

            amount of $70,000.  But  all the other sentencing  provisions

            of the original judgment remained unchanged.

                      On  or about  January  16, 1996,  Joseph filed  his

            second  28 U.S.C.   2255 motion.  Invoking Bailey1, he argued
                                                       ______

            that his 18  U.S.C.   924(c) conviction  (count three) should

            be vacated.   He also contended  that his supervised  release

            terms under the other counts should "be reduced to adequately

            reflect the excessive time  [he] has served in prison."   The

            government, in a  response to Joseph's  motion, said that  it

            did not oppose vacation of his conviction under   924(c).

                      On March  27, 1996,  the  district court  announced

            that  it vacated  Joseph's conviction  and sentence  on count

            three,  and  dismissed  that count.    It  noted  that, as  a

            consequence (Joseph  having long since completed  the twenty-

            one  month concurrent  sentences on counts  one and  two), he

                                
            ____________________

            1.   In Bailey, the Supreme Court explained that the "use" of
                    ______
            firearms,  for    924(c)(1) purposes,  includes "brandishing,
            displaying,  bartering, striking  with,  and most  obviously,
            firing, or  attempting to  fire, a firearm",  but not  merely
            storing a gun near drugs.  Bailey, 116 S. Ct. at 508.
                                       ______

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            would  be released from custody.   The court  stated that the

            supervised  release  terms under  counts  one  and two  would

            commence  to  operate.   A  conforming  amended judgment  was

            entered the next day.

                                         II.
                                         II.

                      The  government expressly  stated that  it did  not

            oppose  vacation of Joseph's    924(c) conviction for using a

            firearm.  In its brief, the government states that it "agreed

            that the  Petitioner's   924(c) conviction  could not survive

            Bailey."   We agree that  the evidence of  firearm "use" here
            ______

            was  insufficient to  pass muster  under  Bailey.   A further
                                                      ______

            question might  be whether Bailey has retroactive application
                                       ______

            to  prior cases like this on collateral review.  However, the

            government's  concession that Joseph's  conviction "could not

            survive  Bailey" waives  any  contest over  that point.2   We
                     ______

            accordingly proceed to  the sole question in this appeal, the

            timing and  operation of the  supervisory release  provisions

            from the sentences on the two valid counts. 

                                         III.
                                         III.

                      Assuming  without  deciding  that   Bailey  applies
                                                          ______

            retroactively  to "use"  cases on  collateral review,  we now

                                
            ____________________

            2.    Several   courts  have   ruled   that  Bailey   applies
                                                         ______
            retroactively.  See,  e.g., Guzman-Rivera  v. United  States,
                            __________  _____________     ______________
            933  F. Supp.  138,  143 (D.P.R.  1996);  Sanabria v.  United
                                                      ________     ______
            States, 916 F. Supp. 106, 112-13 (D.P.R. 1996); United States
            ______                                          _____________
            v. Barnhardt,  93 F.3d 706,  708-09 (10th Cir.  1996); United
               _________                                           ______
            States  v. Cota-Loaiza,  936  F. Supp.  751, 753-54  (D.Colo.
            ______     ___________
            1996).

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            consider  Joseph's appellate  challenges  to  his  supervised

            release  terms.   After completing  service  of the  terms of

            imprisonment under counts one and two, Joseph spent more than

            thirty-nine additional months in prison under the consecutive

            sentence imposed  on the 18  U.S.C.   924(c)(1)  count before

            that conviction  was dismissed, and the  sentence vacated, by

            the  district court.  Joseph  contends he is  entitled to, at

            least,  a  thirty-nine month  credit  against  his supervised

            release  terms  on  the other  two  counts.    His arguments,

            however, are contrary to the language of 18 U.S.C.   3624 and

            they also run  counter to the purposes of  supervised release

            terms,  which are  not  alternative forms  of punishment  but

            rather are  designed to ease a prisoner's  return to civilian

            life.   Joseph's arguments also fail to take into account the

            availability of relief under 18 U.S.C.   3583(e).

            (1) The Language of 18 U.S.C.   3624.
            _____________________________________

                      Section  3624 provides  that  a person's  "term  of

            supervised  release  commences  on  the  day  the  person  is

            released  from imprisonment  . . . ", and  that "[a]  term of

            supervised  release does not  run during any  period in which

            the person is imprisoned in  connection with a conviction for

            a  Federal, State,  or  local crime  . . . ."   18  U.S.C.   

            3624(e) (West Supp. 1996) (Supervision after Release).  These

            provisions are, on their  face, contrary to Joseph's argument

            that his supervised  release terms should  be deemed to  have

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                                          6

            begun on the  day that his  concurrent sentences under  count

            one  and  count two  expired, since  he  was in  prison then,

            serving what, at the time, was a valid sentence for violation

            of   924(c)(1).3   Joseph  points out, however,  that    3624

            also provides  that "[a]  prisoner shall  be released  by the

            Bureau  of Prisons  on  the date  of  the expiration  of  the

            prisoner's term of imprisonment . . . ."  18 U.S.C.   3624(a)

            (West  Supp.  1996) (Date  of Release).    He argues  that he

            should have been released late in 1992, as  that was when his

            terms of imprisonment for the other  two counts expired, they

            being  the only  valid counts  (as now  but not  then known),

            given the holding in Bailey.    
                                 ______

                      In  so  arguing,  Joseph  relies on  the  Court  of

            Appeals for the Ninth Circuit's  decision in United States v.
                                                         _____________

            Blake,   88  F.3d  824  (9th  Cir.  1996).    In  Blake,  the
            _____                                             _____

            defendants'  custodial sentences were  reduced below the time

            they  had  already  served   in  prison  by  the  retroactive

            application of  a clarifying  amendment to the  United States

            Sentencing Guidelines.  The government, nonetheless, used the

            defendants' actual  release dates  as the starting  dates for
                        _____________________

            measuring the duration of the  three year terms of supervised

            release.  See Id. at 825.
                      ___ ___

                                
            ____________________

            3.    This  circuit, like  many at  the  time, had  adopted a
            broader definition of  the term "use" than the  Supreme Court
            held was acceptable in its 1995 Bailey decision.
                                            ______

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                      The  court  of appeals  held  that  the defendants'

            terms  of supervised release should be deemed to have started

            on  the day  that they  should have  been released  under the
                                    __________________________

            reduced sentences.  The  Blake Court read the language  of 18
                                     _____

            U.S.C.      3624(a)  to  set   "the  date  of   release,  and

            consequently the  commencement of a supervised  release term,

            at the time a  prisoner's term expires."   Blake, 88 F.3d  at
                                                       _____

            825.  Furthermore, the Blake Court stated that its ruling was
                                   _____

            dictated  by  the  circuit  precedent  of  United  States  v.
                                                       ______________

            Montenegro-Rojo, 908 F.2d 425,  431 n.8 (9th Cir.  1990) ("If
            _______________

            the district  court  decides to  shorten  the extent  of  its

            departure [from  the Sentencing  Guidelines], the extra  time

            Montenegro-Rojo spent in jail should, in fairness, be counted

            towards the year  of supervised release.").   Thus, the Blake
                                                                    _____

            Court concluded that, in  view of the language of    3624(a),

            and "the obvious  purpose of leniency in applying the revised

            sentencing guidelines retroactively", Blake, 88 F.3d at  825,
                                                  _____

            it  was bound  to follow  Montenegro-Rojo, and to  direct the
                                      _______________

            district   court  to   modify  the   commencement   dates  of

            defendants' supervised release terms.

                      According to Joseph, his  situation is analogous to

            Blake.  Joseph contends that the application of Blake to this
            _____                                           _____

            case leads  to the inevitable conclusion  that his supervised

            release  terms should be deemed to have begun on December 22,

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                                          8

            1992, the date on which he should have finished  his terms of

            imprisonment.

                      We are not persuaded  by Joseph's arguments, nor by

            the rationale of Blake and Montenegro-Rojo.  The fact remains
                             _____     _______________

            that   3624(e)  ties the  beginning of a  term of  supervised

            release to release from imprisonment.  It forbids the running

            of  the term of supervised release during any period in which

            the  person is imprisoned.  Joseph was  in prison at the time

            he  now seeks to  identify as the  beginning of  his terms of

            supervised release and  was, under  the plain  language of   

            3624(e), ineligible for supervised release then.  

                      To be sure, an equitable argument can be made that,

            while  Joseph could not in  any real sense  have expected his

            terms of supervised release to start on December 22, 1992, he

            should be  given credit for incarceration  now found improper

            by  offsetting the excess time he spent in prison against the

            terms  of supervised release.   However,  while we  have some

            sympathy  for this argument, we  reject it for  much the same

            reasons the Court of Appeals for  the Eighth Circuit rejected

            a similar argument in  United States v. Douglas, 88  F.3d 533
                                   _____________    _______

            (8th Cir. 1996).   In Douglas, the  defendant was resentenced
                                  _______

            to a substantially lower prison term pursuant to a clarifying

            amendment to the Sentencing Guidelines.  Since he had already

            served several months beyond  his newly imposed sentence, the

            defendant sought credit  against his supervised  release term

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            for  the  excess time  spent in  prison.   The  Douglas Court
                                                            _______

            refused  to grant  such  credit, noting  that "[t]he  statute

            dealing with  the release of  a prisoner plainly  states that

            supervised  release  'commences  on  the day  the  person  is

            released  from imprisonment,'  and 'does  not run  during any

            period in which the person is imprisoned in connection with a

            conviction  for   a  Federal  . . . crime.'"     Id.  at  534
                                                             ___

            (citations omitted).  The court went on to note "that this is

            consistent   with  the   distinctly  different   purposes  of

            imprisonment  and  supervised   release."    Id.   (citations
                                                         ___

            omitted).

                      Joseph attempts  to distinguish Douglas  by arguing
                                                      _______

            that  the defendant in that case never claimed that he should

            not have been  convicted of  the particular crime.   He  also

            considers relevant the fact that no change in the substantive

            law or  application of  a guideline amendment  eliminated the

            conviction previously  entered by the district  court in that

            case.   These  distinctions,  however,  do  not  seem  to  us

            dispositive.   The bottom line  is that both  cases deal with

            changes  yielding the same result: a reduction in the term of

            imprisonment beyond the time already served.

                      Even so,  Joseph maintains  that he could  not have

            been  imprisoned for a federal crime that he, as the district

            court's  ruling recognized,  could not  have committed.   He,

            thus, contends that, even applying the language of   3624(e),

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            his supervised release terms  should revert back to  the date

            of release for the valid convictions, since he could not have

            been  imprisoned for  the  use of  a  firearm during  and  in

            relation to a drug crime.  But, as already noted, when Joseph

            pleaded guilty  and was sentenced  in 1991, the  sentence for

            his  18 U.S.C.     924(c)(1) conviction  was appropriate  and

            "legal", being in accordance  with a statutory interpretation

            then enforced, and of  course believed to be correct,  by the

            courts having jurisdiction over his case.  It was only in the

            wake of the Bailey  decision in 1995 that his  conviction and
                        ______

            sentence under  count three  of the original  indictment were

            recognized  as being contrary to  the law, at  which point he

            was immediately  relieved of the remaining  sentence for that

            count and  released from prison.   It was at this  point that

            his supervised  release terms,  in accordance with  the plain

            language of   3624(e), began to operate.  

                      Lastly,  Joseph asserts  that the  statutory scheme

            codified in   3624  did not contemplate a situation  like the

            one  presented in  this case.   He  argues that  a reasonable

            reading  of    3624 would  imply  the unwritten  language "or

            should have been released."  Congress, however, did not place

            such language in    3624, and,  given the entirely  different

            purposes  served by imprisonment  and supervised  release, we

            see  no clear  basis for implying  it now.   Rather, like the

            Eighth  Circuit in Douglas, we believe that the language in  
                               _______

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            3624(e) must be