Court Opinion

ID: 9490202
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 13:35:46.269911+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:53:56.910210
License: Public Domain

FERNANDEZ, Circuit Judge,
concurring and dissenting:
I concur in Parts A, B, and C of the majority opinion, but dissent from Part D.
I agree with Chee’s contention that he was entitled to a three-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility. While one could question his entitlement to any reduction at all, the government has not contested the two-level reduction, and the inquiry for the third level does not involve the same analysis as the underlying determination that a defendant has accepted responsibility in the first place.
The district court denied Chee the third level because it found that he was “minimizing his conduct with respect to the various episodes of restraint ... [and] denying the threats that were made.” The court also noted that the government had completely prepared for trial and that the parties had already picked a jury when Chee pled guilty.
In part (a) the Acceptance of Responsibility Guideline provides for a two-level decrease “if the defendant clearly demonstrates acceptance of responsibility for his actions.” USSG § SEl.l(a).1 Then in part (b) it provides that a defendant who qualifies for the two-level reduction may qualify for an additional one level reduction where he either “(1) timely [provides] complete information to the government concerning his own involvement in the offense; or (2) timely [notifies] authorities of his intention to enter a plea of guilty, thereby permitting the government to avoid preparing for trial.” USSG § 3El.l(b)(l)-(2). Thus, the inquiry for the third level does not involve a reconsideration of the factors leading to the two-level reduction; the only issue for the third level is timing. See United States v. Stoops, 25 F.3d 820, 822 (9th Cir.1994) (once acceptance is decided, the issue is timing).
The government insinuates that Chee is not entitled to the extra reduction because he has not completely accepted responsibility for his actions. The district court’s analysis was to the same effect. Of course, that approach overlooks the fact that the district court ultimately decided that Chee did accept his responsibility. Were it otherwise, the court could not have given him the two-level reduction, a reduction which the government has not appealed. See Stoops, 25 F.3d at 822.
The government says it had to prepare for trial but also overlooks the fact that subsections (b)(1) and (b)(2) are alternatives, and a defendant who timely admits his guilt will qualify for the third level under subsection (b)(1), even if he does not plead guilty immediately and is ineligible under subsection (b)(2).
We have previously stressed the difference between the subsections and have held that a defendant who confessed soon after the crime but then held up the plea process by challenging the confession as coerced was still entitled to a three-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility. See id. at 822-23. In Stoops, we explained that “[a] defendant qualifies under subsection (b)(1) if he timely provides complete information, whether or not he ... timely notifies the government of his intent to plead guilty.” Id. at 823. We rejected the assertion, which the government repeats here, that because the defendant did not plead guilty in time for it to avoid trial preparation, he could not obtain the third level under any circumstances. See id. at 822 n. 1.
Chee went to the police within 12 hours of the crime and gave them a full statement about the assault. Under Stoops, the fact that he later challenged the legal effect of some of his admissions does not obviate the fact that he quickly and freely confessed to the assault. Nor does the fact that he continued to challenge his guilt of the crimes of kidnapping and rape take away from the timing of his acceptance of responsibility for the assault to which he pled guilty. Again, that challenge could have been considered on the issue of whether he did accept his re*1496sponsibility; it has nothing to do with timing. Therefore, Chee was entitled to a three level decrease for acceptance of responsibility.
Chee terrorized his girlfriend — he confined her in his ear, he beat her, he threatened to obtain a weapon from the trunk of the car in order to kill her, he then carried her off to a motel where he held her overnight. She finally got away the next morning. The police reports and the course of this case tell the all too common story of a battered woman. Fortunately for Chee, his victim recanted part of her story about that night of terror. When she did, Chee actually pled guilty to the assault, and it appears that he always accepted responsibility for that. The district court determined that he did accept responsibility. Once the court made that determination, the only issue left was timing. But it is clear that Chee immediately accepted all of the responsibility that he was going to accept and even stood ready to plead guilty to assault at all times. Thus, he was entitled to the third level of decrease also.
I,therefore, respectfully dissent from Part D of the majority opinion.

. All references are to the Guidelines effective November 1, 1995.