Johnson v. United States

936 F. Supp. 432, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13104, 1996 WL 506452
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedAugust 30, 1996
DocketCivil Action No. 96-40027
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 936 F. Supp. 432 (Johnson v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Johnson v. United States, 936 F. Supp. 432, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13104, 1996 WL 506452 (E.D. Mich. 1996).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO VACATE CONVICTION PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 2255

GADOLA, District Judge.

A. Petitioner’s § 2255 Motion

Petitioner was convicted of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, use of a firearm during and in relation to a drug offense, and two counts of possession with intent to distribute. Petitioner has filed this section 2255 motion, requesting that this court vacate his § 924(e)(1) conviction. Petitioner bases his motion on the Supreme Court’s decision in Bailey v. United States, — U.S. -, 116 S.Ct. 501, 133 L.Ed.2d 472 (1995), which requires the Government to prove “active employment” of a firearm to sustain a conviction under the use prong of section 924(c). Petitioner does not challenge his § 841(a) conviction.

Both parties are in agreement that the § 924(c)(1) conviction must be vacated, in light of Bailey. Accordingly, this court will grant petitioner’s motion.

B. Resentencing

The parties disagree over whether this court may resentence petitioner on his § 841(a) conviction in light of the vacatur of his § 924(c)(1) conviction. The Government wishes to resentence petitioner on his § 841(a) conviction so that it may request a two-level enhancement pursuant to 2Dl.l(b)(l)1 and maintain petitioner’s five-year term of supervised release. Petitioner, now released from prison, requests that his supervised release be reduced by 49 months.

In the wake of Bailey, district courts across the country have been faced with the situation presented to this court and have been called upon to determine the propriety of adjusting the sentence of a successful § 2255 petitioner to allow for a two-level increase pursuant to 2Dl.l(b)(l).2 The courts have been fairly evenly split. For example, compare Rodriguez v. United States, 933 F.Supp. 279 (S.D.N.Y.1996) (holding that court’s limited jurisdiction precludes two-level increase on resentencing), and Warner v. United States, 926 F.Supp. 1387 (E.D.Ark.1996) (holding that Constitution and court’s limited jurisdiction preclude two-level increase on resentencing), with Merritt v. United States, 930 F.Supp. 1109 (E.D.N.C. 1996) (holding that Constitution and court’s jurisdiction allow for two-level increase on resentencing), and Mixon v. United States, 926 F.Supp. 178 (S.D.Ala.1996) (same). This court agrees with those courts that hold that it is proper for the district court to recalculate petitioner’s entire sentencing package, even if petitioner only collaterally attacks one of the multiple, interdependent convictions underlying his sentence.

1. Jurisdiction

This court holds that section 2255 grants this court jurisdiction to recalculate petitioner’s aggregate sentence. In other words, section 2255 grants this court authority to impose on petitioner the sentence he would have received had he not been convict[434]*434ed of § 924(c)(1). Section 2255 provides, in part:

A prisoner in custody under sentence of a court established by Act of Congress claiming the right to be released upon the ground that the sentence was imposed in violation of the Constitution or the laws of the United States ... may move the court which imposed the sentence to vacate, set aside, or correct the sentence.
... If the court finds that the sentence imposed was not authorized by law or otherwise open to collateral attack ... the court shall vacate and set the judgment aside and shah discharge the prisoner or resentenee him or grant a new trial or correct the sentence as may appear appropriate.

28 U.S.C. § 2255. When defendant brought this § 2255 motion, he attacked the sentence that he received. This sentence was based on his plea of guilty to § 924(c)(1), § 841(a)(1), and § 846. These convictions were considered interdependently in arriving at petitioner’s final, aggregate sentence. See United States v. Clements, 86 F.3d 599 (6th Cir.1996) (recognizing that interdependence of convictions leads to a single sentencing package). Resentencing, as used in § 2255, “requires the court to reexamine the aggregate sentence thus allowing it to enhance the sentences on the other convictions as appropriate.” Merritt, 930 F.Supp. at 1114. See United States v. Tucker, Nos. 95-1160/1187/1220, shp op. at 12 (6th Cir. July 25, 1996) (holding that “reversal of the § 924(c) convictions [under Bailey means that the Government may now seek such enhancements [under § 2Dl.l(b)(l) ].”).

As stated by the First Circuit:

[W]hen a defendant is found guilty on a multicount indictment, there is a strong likelihood that the district court will craft a disposition in which the sentences on the various counts form part of an overall plan. When the conviction on one or more of the component counts is vacated, common sense dictates that the judge should be free to review the efficacy of what remains in light of the original plan, and to reconstruct the sentencing architecture upon remand, within applicable constitutional and statutory limits, if that appears necessary in order to ensure that the punishment still fits both the crime and the criminal.

United States v. Pimienta-Redondo, 874 F.2d 9, 14 (1st Cir.1989), cert. denied, 493 U.S, 890, 110 S.Ct. 233, 107 L.Ed.2d 185 (1989) (holding that on direct appeal, appellate court may remand for resentencing of all counts).

Indeed, it seems odd that section 2255 would grant the district court the power to “correct” the petitioner’s sentence, yet require the court to leave in place a sentence that is undoubtedly incorrect, in that it no longer represents the seriousness of petitioner’s actions and no longer comports with the sentencing guidelines. Yet this is the result advocated by petitioner.

In sum, this court holds that under section 2255, this court has jurisdiction to adjust the guideline calculations on petitioner’s § 841(a) conviction so that his aggregate sentence properly represents the seriousness of his actions.

2. Double Jeopardy

“[T]he Double Jeopardy Clause protects against three distinct abuses: a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal; a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction; and multiple punishments for the same offense.” United States v. Halper, 490 U.S. 435, 440, 109 S.Ct. 1892, 1897, 104 L.Ed.2d 487 (1989). An increase upon resentencing may constitute multiple punishments for the same offense only if petitioner has a legitimate “expectation of finality in the original sentence.” United States v. DiFrancesco, 449 U.S. 117, 139, 101 S.Ct. 426, 438, 66 L.Ed.2d 328 (1980).

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Bluebook (online)
936 F. Supp. 432, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13104, 1996 WL 506452, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-united-states-mied-1996.