Court Opinion

ID: 2963804
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2015-09-21 21:15:23.437349+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:42:46.846446
License: Public Domain

USCA1 Opinion

	

        January 10, 1996        [NOT FOR PUBLICATION]

                            UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT

                           

                                 ____________________

        No. 95-1787 

                                    UNITED STATES,

                                      Appellee,

                                          v.

                                   JOSE OMAR SANTA,

                                Defendant, Appellant.

                                 ____________________

                     APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

                           FOR THE DISTRICT OF RHODE ISLAND

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

                                 ____________________

                                        Before

                                Torruella, Chief Judge,
                                           ___________
                           Stahl and Lynch, Circuit Judges.
                                            ______________

                                 ____________________

            Edward F. St. Onge on brief for appellant.
            __________________
            Sheldon Whitehouse,  United States  Attorney, and  Edwin J.  Gale,
            __________________                                 ______________
        Assistant United States Attorney, on brief for appellee.

                                 ____________________

                                 ____________________

                      Per  Curiam.   Defendant-appellant Jose  Omar Santa
                      ___________

            ("Santa") appeals  his sentence  on two grounds.   First,  he

            objects to  the conversion  of money  found at  his apartment

            into drug amounts  for the purposes  of calculating his  base

            offense  level.   Second,  he contests  the district  court's

            refusal  to depart  downward from  the guideline  sentence on

            account of  defendant's status  as a deportable  alien, which

            makes him ineligible  for assignment to low-security  prisons

            or half-way houses.  We affirm.

                                I.  Conversion of Cash
                                    __________________

                      The Commentary  to  Section  2D1.1  of  the  United

            States Sentencing Guidelines provides  that drug amounts  not

            specified in the  counts of conviction  may be considered  in

            determining the  offense level.   See Comment  n. 12.   To be
                                              ___

            included, the drug amounts  must be "part of the  same course

            of  conduct  or  common scheme  or  plan  as  the offense  of

            conviction."   United States  v. Gerante,  891 F.2d  364, 369
                           _____________     _______

            (1st Cir.  1989).  The Guidelines permit the sentencing court

            to treat cash as  the equivalent of an estimated  quantity of

            drugs in arriving at a base offense level. Comment note 12 to

              2D1.1 provides, in relevant part, as follows:

                           Where there is no  drug seizure
                           or the amount  seized does  not
                           reflect   the   scale  of   the
                           offense,   the   court    shall
                           approximate the quantity of the
                           controlled substance. In making
                           this  determination,  the court
                           may consider,  for example, the

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                           price  generally  obtained  for
                           the controlled substance, . . .

                      On appeal,  Santa argues that there  is no evidence

            to support the government's  statement at sentencing that the

            cash was wrapped  in tin foil and located under  the bed.  He

            also argues that the cash "represented  the proceeds of sales

            already  counted."   At  sentencing, however,  Santa did  not

            object  to  the government's  account  of  the packaging  and

            location of the cash.   Therefore, this objection may  not be

            raised for the  first time on  appeal.  See United  States v.
                                                    ___ ______________

            Jackson, 3 F.3d  506, 511 (1st Cir.  1993).  Even  on appeal,
            _______

            Santa   has  failed to  offer an  alternative account  of the

            packaging and location of the cash.  "[T]he     determination

            that  an  amount  of  money  represents  proceeds  from  drug

            transactions that are part  of the same course of  conduct as

            the  charged  offense,  and  therefore   represents  relevant

            conduct  attributable  to  the  defendant,  is  predominantly

            factual and reviewable only for clear error." Jackson, 3 F.3d
                                                          _______

            at 510.   In  this case,  the sentencing  judge's conclusions

            were not clearly erroneous.  The court was free to disbelieve

            Santa's claim that the cash represented savings for a trip to

            Colombia.  The packaging and location of the cash belied that

            claim.  Similarly, given the almost three-month lapse between

            the  previous sales  of drugs  and the  seizure of  cash, the

            rejection of Santa's claim that the cash represented proceeds

            from the previous sales is not clearly erroneous.  "The judge

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            present  at the sentencing hearing is in the best position to

            determine  the credibility of the witnesses and the source of

            the currency, . . ."  Jackson, 3 F.3d at 512.
                                  _______

                               II.  Downward Departure
                                    __________________

                      Santa's  second argument  on  appeal  is  that  the

            sentencing court erred in denying his request for  a downward

            departure  from  the guideline  sentence.    "It  is  by  now

            axiomatic that  a criminal defendant cannot  ground an appeal

            on a sentencing court's  discretionary decision not to depart

            below  the guideline  sentencing  range."   United States  v.
                                                        _____________

            Pierro, 32  F.3d 611, 619 (1st  Cir. 1994), cert. denied,    
            ______                                      _____ ______   __

            U.S.    , 115 S. Ct. 919 (1995).  "Appellate jurisdiction does
                 ___

            attach, however, where the decision not to depart is based on

            the sentencing court's assessment of its lack of authority or

            power  to depart."  United  States v. Morrison,  46 F.3d 127,
                                ______________    ________

            130 (1st Cir. 1995).

                      Although the sentencing court indicated that it was

            skeptical  about its  authority  to depart  on  the basis  of

            Santa's status as a  deportable alien, that was not  the sole

            ground for its failure  to depart.  The court  clearly stated

            that  "even if I were permitted to make a downward departure,

            I wouldn't do  it on this basis."  Therefore,  the failure to

            depart  was  the  result  of a  discretionary  decision  that

            departure  was not  appropriate,  even if  it was  permitted.
                                              ____ __

                                         -4-

            Accordingly,  this  court lacks  jurisdiction  to  review the

            sentencing court's departure decision.

                      The sentence  is summarily  affirmed.  See  Loc. R.
                                       _________  ________   ___

            27.1.

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