United States v. Bernabal

22 F. App'x 37
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedOctober 5, 2001
DocketNo. 00-1669
StatusPublished

This text of 22 F. App'x 37 (United States v. Bernabal) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Bernabal, 22 F. App'x 37 (2d Cir. 2001).

Opinion

SUMMARY ORDER

ON CONSIDERATION WHEREOF, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the appeal of the judgment of the District Court be and it hereby is GRANTED, the sentences are VACATED, and the case is REMANDED for further proceedings consistent with this order.

Background

On April 18, 2000, defendant Dennys Alba (“Alba” or “defendant”) pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering, 18 U .S.C. § 1956(a)(2)(B)®. The Probation Department prepared a Presentence Investigation Report and concluded that her total offense level was 18, and her criminal history category was I, resulting in a sentencing range of 27 to 33 months. At the sentencing hearing on July 19, 2000, the defendant claimed that she had participated in the crime in order to obtain funds to pay off loan sharks who threatened her family, including her children. The district court asked defendant several questions about the alleged debts and threats. The district court also asked defendant’s counsel if he had known about the threats. The attorney claimed that he had known about them, that he thought defendant had previously provided this information to the Probation Office, and that he should have made a downward departure motion based on the threats. The government and the district court both observed that they were unaware of these alleged circumstances. Based on defendant’s statements, the district court downwardly departed to pri[39]*39marily a three-month period of incarceration.

On July 24, 2000, the government requested that the court vacate the sentence under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 35(c) because defendant’s statements that she had been motivated to commit the crime because of loansharking pressures were untrue. Three days later, on July 27th, the district court held a conference at which it apparently endeavored to invoke the inherent authority of the court to correct a judgment obtained through fraud. It vacated the sentence with the agreement of defendant and arranged for an evidentiary hearing to pursue the matter further. On September 18, 2000, the parties presented the court with a joint stipulation regarding defendant’s debts and her motivation for committing the crime. The district court then heard testimony from defendant and oral argument from counsel. The district court decided that it did not believe defendant’s explanation for her conduct, and approximately three weeks later, on October 4, 2000 the district court resentenced defendant, this time to primarily twenty-seven months incarceration. Defendant appeals the judgment of conviction and sentence.

Discussion

For the reasons explained below, we hold that the district court made two errors. First, it downwardly departed without giving the government adequate notice of its intent to do so. Second, it attempted to resentence the defendant after it had lost jurisdiction over the case.

Failure to provide the government with notice of the court’s intent to downwardly depart as to a defendant’s sentence is a reversible error where the government can identify grounds it would have offered to contest the proposed downward departure. See United States v. Jagmohan, 909 F.2d 61, 63-64 (2d Cir.1990); see also United States v. Rivera, 192 F.3d 81, 88 (2d Cir.1999) (notice to defendant). As was the case here, without notice, the government is put at an unfair disadvantage because it may be unprepared to argue against the motion or offer evidence to contradict defendant’s statements. As was shown in the proceedings relating to the second sentencing, with notice, the government would have presented evidence to contradict defendant’s statements about her motivations for committing the money laundering, and would have argued against the departure.

Although it was understandable that the district court would attempt to correct its original sentence once evidence of defendant’s alleged dishonesty was brought to the court’s attention, the court lacked jurisdiction to do so. See United States v. Werber, 51 F.3d 342, 343 (2d Cir.1995) (noting that with the Sentencing Guidelines and related statutes, “[tjhese rules divert more and more sentencing issues to the Court of Appeals for resolution in the first instance, even where the sentencing court itself believes that it has misapplied the law.”). Modifications of sentences are governed by the following statute, in relevant part:

The court may not modify a term of imprisonment once it has been imposed except that—
(1) in any case — (A) the court, upon motion of the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, may reduce the term of imprisonment, after considering the factors set forth in section 3553(a) to the extent that they are applicable, if it finds that extraordinary and compelling reasons warrant such a reduction and that such a reduction is consistent with applicable policy statements issued by the Sentencing Commission; and (B) the court may modify an imposed term of imprison-[40]*40merit to the extent otherwise expressly permitted by statute or by Rule 35 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure; and (2) in the case of a defendant who has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment based on a sentencing range that has subsequently been lowered by the Sentencing Commission pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 994(o), upon motion of the defendant or the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, or on its own motion, the court may reduce the term of imprisonment, after considering the factors set forth in section 3553(a) to the extent that they are applicable, if such a reduction is consistent with applicable policy statements issued by the Sentencing Commission.

18 U.S.C. § 3582. Under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 35(c), inter alia, “[t]he court, acting within 7 days after the imposition of sentence, may correct a sentence that was imposed as a result of arithmetical, technical, or other clear error.” This provision was made effective December 31, 1991.2 The application of Rule 35(c) is reviewed de novo. See United States v. Abreu-Cabrera, 64 F.3d 67, 71-73 (2d Cir. 1995) (applying a de novo standard of review without explicitly declaring it). This Circuit has held that this rule is jurisdictional and that a court may not make sentence corrections outside of the seven-day period under this rule. See id. at 73; see also United States v. Werber, 51 F.3d 342, 348-49 (2d Cir.1995); United States v. Vega, 241 F.3d 910

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Related

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United States v. Fahm
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United States v. Anthony F. Daddino
5 F.3d 262 (Seventh Circuit, 1993)
United States v. Raymond Joseph Lopez
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United States v. Werber
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United States v. Jerry Waters
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United States v. Jeffrey S. Burd
86 F.3d 285 (Second Circuit, 1996)
United States v. Vincent Demartino, AKA Chickie
112 F.3d 75 (Second Circuit, 1997)
United States v. Howard Handa
122 F.3d 690 (Ninth Circuit, 1997)
United States v. Darryl Sadler
234 F.3d 368 (Eighth Circuit, 2000)
United States v. Ramona Vega
241 F.3d 910 (Seventh Circuit, 2001)
United States v. Gordon K.
257 F.3d 1158 (Tenth Circuit, 2001)
United States v. Barragan-Mendoza
174 F.3d 1024 (Ninth Circuit, 1999)
United States v. Rivera
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Gutierrez-Cervantez v. United States
522 U.S. 1083 (Supreme Court, 1998)

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Bluebook (online)
22 F. App'x 37, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-bernabal-ca2-2001.