United States v. Carlos Deon Williams

431 F.3d 767, 2005 WL 3193855
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedNovember 30, 2005
Docket05-11318
StatusPublished
Cited by50 cases

This text of 431 F.3d 767 (United States v. Carlos Deon Williams) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh 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. Carlos Deon Williams, 431 F.3d 767, 2005 WL 3193855 (11th Cir. 2005).

Opinions

PER CURIAM:

In this Guidelines interpretation case, we examine the meaning of the word “any” as it is used in United States Sentencing Guideline § 2K2.1(c)(l), and conclude that it covers any firearm that is used in connection with the commission of another offense that is within the relevant conduct of the charged offense.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On January 29, 2004, Carlos Williams was arrested for shooting Eric McCants four days earlier. At the time of the arrest, the officers found two guns in Williams’s car. Williams was charged in state court for the assault, and the federal grand jury indicted him for being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g). Williams pled guilty to possessing one of the firearms without a plea agreement. The Government did not prove that the firearm in the federal charge was the same one used in the McCants assault.

In his written objections to the Presen-tence Report and at sentencing, Williams objected to the calculation of his base offense level. After hearing testimony and determining by a preponderance of the evidence that the assault on McCants was relevant conduct to the federal possession charge, the district court calculated the base level by cross-referencing from the firearms guideline, § 2K2.1, to the guideline for aggravated assault, § 2A2.2.1 The district court added ten points to the base offense level of fourteen because a firearm was discharged and the victim sustained serious bodily injury. The court subtracted three points for acceptance of responsibility. With a base offense level of twenty-one, and a criminal history level of VI, the [769]*769suggested Guidelines range was seventy-seven to ninety-six months; the district court sentenced Williams to ninety-six months’ imprisonment.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Williams was sentenced after the Supreme Court handed down its decision in United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005). We review questions of law arising under the Guidelines de novo. United States v. Crawford, 407 F.3d 1174, 1178 (11th Cir. 2005). Once the district court has calculated the Guidelines correctly, we review the sentence for reasonableness. Id. at 1179.

III. DISCUSSION

A. The meaning of “any” in U.S.S.G. § 2R2.1(c)(1).

Williams contends that the word “any” in § 2K2.1(c)(l) is confined to any of the firearms that he was charged with possessing. Thus, he argues that the district court erroneously cross-referenced to the aggravated assault guideline, which did not involve the firearm in the federal charge. The Government counters that “any” must mean any firearm the defendant possessed, be it the ones charged or not. The section in question reads:

(c) Cross Reference

(1) If the defendant used or possessed any firearm or ammunition in connection with the commission or attempted commission of another offense, or possessed or transferred a firearm or ammunition with knowledge or intent that it would be used or possessed in connection with another offense, apply—
(A) § 2X1.1 (Attempt, Solicitation, or Conspiracy) in respect to that other offense, if the resulting offense level is greater than that determined above ....

U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(c)(1). (emphasis added)

Although this court has not reached this issue precisely, it has discussed the meaning of the same key words used in another provision of the Guidelines, i.e. § 2K2.1(b)(5).2 In United States v. Sutton, 302 F.3d 1226 (11th Cir.2002), this court examined the meaning of “the firearm or ammunition” in the U.S.S.G. § 4B1.4(b)(3)(A) sentencing enhancement for § 922(g) violations. It determined that “the” meant that the firearm had to be the one which was charged in the violation of § 922(g). In reaching this conclusion, the court first noted that the plain language of the guideline must be followed. Id. at 1227. Then it continued:

While the word “any” is general and nonspecific, the word “the” is particular and specific. The Sentencing Guidelines themselves evince an understanding of this distinction. When any firearm or ammunition will do, the Guidelines use the nonspecific phrases “any firearm or ammunition,” see, e.g., USSG § 2K2.1(b)(5), or “a firearm or ammunition,” see, e.g., § 2Kl.l(c)(l), rather than the specific phrase “the firearm or ammunition.” The use of “the firearm or ammunition” in § 4B1.4(b)(3)(A), then, indicates that this Guideline applies only to a particular firearm.

Id. at 1227-28.

Two other circuits have found this reasoning persuasive when interpreting parts [770]*770of § 2K2.1. In the first of them, the Eighth Circuit cited Sutton approvingly when it held that § 2K2.1(b)(5) did not require the “any firearm” to be the one charged in the indictment. United States v. Mann, 315 F.3d 1054, 1056 (8th Cir. 2003). The court characterized § 2K2.1(b)(5)’s “reference to ‘any firearm’ ” as unambiguous. Id. The court also noted that the defendant’s construction of the “any” to mean the charged firearm would lead to an absurd result, i.e. it would reward those criminals who had the foresight to get rid of the weapon. Id. at 1057. Although Mann did not involve the precise provision at issue here, it did involve a provision of the same guideline that used the same key words, “any firearm.” Thus, Mann is persuasive authority.

In United States v. Jardine, 364 F.3d 1200 (10th Cir.2004), the Tenth Circuit addressed § 2K2.1(c)(l), the very provision at issue here, and determined that it referred to any firearm possessed by the defendant.3 The court started with the plain language, noting that the Guidelines did not provide a definition of the term. Id. at 1207. It cited Mann and Sutton for their discussion of the Guidelines’ use of “the” and “any.” Id. at 1208. It held that the term “any firearm” was unambiguous. Id. Finally, the court pointed to two further considerations: the fact that the Guidelines require the court to consider all relevant conduct when sentencing and the fact that the defendant’s interpretation would lead to an absurd result for the same reason cited in Mann. Id.

By contrast, in United States v. Gonzales, 996 F.2d 88 (5th Cir.1993), the Fifth Circuit in dicta rejected the plain meaning of “any firearm,” reasoning that it did not fit with the “overall context of section 2K2.1.” 996 F.2d at 92 n. 6. The court reasoned that the “any firearm” must be at least related to the one charged in the indictment. Id.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
431 F.3d 767, 2005 WL 3193855, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-carlos-deon-williams-ca11-2005.