Court Opinion

ID: 9464710
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 23:40:23.51619+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:38:46.221887
License: Public Domain

McKAY, Circuit Judge,
dissenting as follows:
I agree with the majority that on a Rule 35 motion for reduction of sentence a district court may resentence a defendant if Parole Board implementation of the parole guidelines has frustrated the district court’s expectations with respect to the original sentence. I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that the district court understood this authority or that he knowingly exercised that discretion when it ruled on the motion in this case. For that reason I would remand to the district court to permit him to reconsider the motion in light of the court’s opinion.
I do not understand that the defendant complains of an abuse of discretion. I think he quite correctly feels that the district court erred in treating his motion as a request to interfere with the Parole Board’s discretion to determine parole eligibility rather than as a request to reexamine the court’s own sentencing purpose in light of the then unknown practices of the Board.
In. denying Galoob’s motion for reduction of sentence, the district court explained that § 4208(a)(2) leaves the determination of parole eligibility to the Board of Parole. The court then ruled:
I can’t interfere with that determination on a motion under Rule 35 to reduce sentence. ... I do not have authority to interfere with the reasonable discretion of the Board of Parole. . . .
Record on Appeal at 21 (emphasis added). Similarly, in his denial of Galoob’s motion for rehearing on the Rule 35 motion, the court held: “I will not and I cannot take over the functions of the Board of Parole.” Id. at 25 (emphasis added).
These rulings can be understood only when viewed in light of the fact that Galoob’s motions for reduction of sentence did not, in any way, request the district court to interfere with or modify the determination of the Parole Board. Thus, the only possible explanation for the above rulings is that the court mistakenly believed he lacked authority to reconsider a § 4208(a)(2) sentence according to his discretion under Rule 35. Whenever a district court unlawfully refuses — or mistakenly believes he lacks authority — to exercise his discretion in ruling on the merits of a Rule 35 motion, an individual is effectively deprived of the protections embodied in Rule 35.
It is obvious that the district court did not reach or consider the merits of Galoob’s Rule 35 motion because of the court’s erroneous conclusion about his authority. It is equally clear that district courts do have authority under Rule 35 to reduce a sentence, even when it is imposed under § 4208(a)(2). E. g., United States v. Somers, 552 F.2d 108 (3d Cir. 1977); United States v. DiRusso, 548 F.2d 372 (1st Cir. 1976); United States v. Slutsky, 514 F.2d 1222 (2d Cir. 1975). Given the district court’s erroneous conclusion of law on this matter, the appropriate remedy is manifest: “[I]n the interest of obtaining a just determination of this criminal proceeding (see Rule 2, Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure), the cause should be remanded so that the trial court may exercise its discretion in determining whether it wishes to grant such relief.” Leyvas v. United States, 371 F.2d 714, 718 (9th Cir. 1967). See United States v. Slutsky, 514 F.2d at 1227; McCartney v. United States, 382 F.2d 116, *1172118 (9th Cir. 1967); C. Wright, Federal Practice & Procedure: Criminal § 588 (1969).