Court Opinion

ID: 9491676
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 14:20:35.403234+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:54:53.102975
License: Public Domain

JERRY E. SMITH, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
I respectfully dissent from the majority’s conclusion that a sentencing court may depart downward from a prescribed sentencing range under U.S.S.G. § 5K1.1 in the absence of a motion from the government. The section states, “Upon motion of the government stating that the defendant has provided substantial assistance in the investigation or prosecution of another person who has committed an offense, the court may depart from the guidelines.” The best reading of those plain words is that in the absence of a government motion, the court is precluded from such a departure. The majority, however, relies on and adopts In re Sealed Case, 149 F.3d 1198 (D.C.Cir.1998), which in turn relies on Koon v. United States, 518 U.S. 81, 116 S.Ct. 2035, 135 L.Ed.2d 392 (1996).
District courts may depart based on circumstances “not adequately taken into account” in the guidelines. 18 U.S.C. § 3553(b). The majority agrees with the court in Sealed Case that “ ‘a substantial assistance departure without a government motion is neither encompassed by nor equivalent to any mentioned, encouraged, or discouraged factor, and was thus not adequately considered by the Commission’ ” (quoting Sealed Case, 149 F.3d at 1203). This is the heart of the dispute.
I read the words of the Sentencing Commission to mean that the Commission has specifically taken this matter into account and has decided to allow departures for substantial assistance only by government motion. Any other reading of § 5K1.1 renders the words “[u]pon motion of the government” redundant. It is unrealistic to expect that the Commission would have burdened the reader with the statement that “if the government moves for a substantial assistance departure, the court may depart, but if the government does not move for a substantial assistance departure, the court may not depart.” The version contained in § 5K1.1 accomplishes this in much simpler form: The court may depart on government motion.
It is unusual that in the case of departures for substantial assistance, the guidelines say such departures may be made “[u]pon motion of the government.” We should presume this was for a reason, and that the Commission gave particular attention to potential departures given for substantial assistance.
The special text of this guideline takes the interpretation of the guideline out of the rubric set forth in Koon. Instead, we should read the simple words of the guideline and apply them strictly: Without a government motion, there can be no departure for substantial assistance. I respectfully dissent.