Court Opinion

ID: 9499020
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 17:35:35.692455+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:59:14.107608
License: Public Domain

ROGERS, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I would affirm the sentence because it is substantively reasonable, and the court’s failure to consider on the record the Chapter Seven policy statements amounted, at most, to harmless error. The district court *775in this case thoughtfully sentenced Yopp to the term of incarceration that would best serve his interests.
While the district court should have considered the policy statements on the record, its failure to do so does not automatically warrant vacating the sentence. Nothing in the record indicates that Yopp asked the court to consider the advisory Guidelines range. Therefore, the plain error standard likely applies. See United States v. Steele, 191 F.3d 454, 1999 WL 776314, at *1 (6th Cir. Sept.23,1999). One could argue that, because the district court interrupted Yopp’s objections on other grounds, it effectively precluded him from raising the issue of the policy statements, and that therefore Yopp should not have to demonstrate plain error. Cf. United States v. Bostic, 371 F.3d 865, 872 (6th Cir.2004) (announcing a new rule requiring district courts, at ordinary sentencing hearings, to ask the parties whether they have any objections before adjourning). But even assuming that the plain error standard is not applicable, the court’s error was harmless. The court made it clear that it was sentencing Yopp to whatever term was necessary for him to obtain effective drug treatment, going so far as to say that “[ajnything short of that is a recipe for personal disaster.” Because the district court sentenced Yopp to a term of twenty-four months to insure effective treatment, it is clear that the court would have not imposed a lesser sentence upon consideration of the policy statements.
The district court’s sentence was moreover substantively reasonable. The probation officer recommended that the district court impose the twenty-four-month sentence because such a term was necessary for Yopp to participate in the 500-hour drug treatment and community corrections programs. It was reasonable for the district court to adopt the sentence recommended by the probation officer because of the officer’s expertise in how much time was necessary for inmates to obtain effective drug treatment.