United States v. Coenen

135 F.3d 938, 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 2603, 1998 WL 65316
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedFebruary 18, 1998
Docket97-30101
StatusPublished
Cited by38 cases

This text of 135 F.3d 938 (United States v. Coenen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth 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. Coenen, 135 F.3d 938, 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 2603, 1998 WL 65316 (5th Cir. 1998).

Opinion

RHESA HAWKINS BARKSDALE, Circuit Judge:

In appealing his sentence for transmission of child pornography, Douglas Turek Coenen challenges the special conditions of supervised release requiring community notification of his conviction, claiming also that the district court did not give notice, that it might impose them. We AFFIRM.

I.

Having pled guilty to four counts of transmission of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(1), Coenen was sentenced to 33 months imprisonment and three years supervised release on each count, to be served concurrently. In addition to the standard conditions of supervised release, the district court imposed, inter alia, special conditions. This was done pursuant to a recommendation from the social worker who interviewed Coenen during the pre-sentence investigation, and found that he met the diagnostic criteria of pedophilia (“recurrent, intensely sexually arousing ... behaviors generally involving ... children ... that occur over a period of at least 6 months” that “could be said to cause clinical[ ] impairment in social and occupational, or other important areas of functioning”).

The special conditions are:

3.As directed by the probation officer, the defendant shall give notice of the crime for which he was convicted and his name and address to:
a. The chief of police in the municipality and the sheriff of the parish in which the defendant will reside. The defendant shall register with the sheriff of the parish in which he will reside.
b. All people who live within a one mile radius (rural area), and a three square block area (urban/suburban area) of defendant’s residence after release.
c. The superintendent of the school district where the defendant will reside. The superintendent will notify the principal of any school he deems necessary of this information.
Above notifications must be given by mail within 30 days of release on supervision and/or within 30 days of setting up residence in that locale and shall be at the defendant’s own expense.
4. As directed by the probation officer, the defendant shall publish notice in the official journal of the governing authority of the parish where the defendant plans to reside on two separate days within the 30 days of setting up residence in that locate]. The notice shall be published at the defendant’s own expense.
5. As directed by the probation officer, the defendant shall give notice as deemed appropriate, such as signs, handbills, bumper stickers, clothing labels, and door-to-door oral communication. The notice shall be at the defendant’s own expense.

The notification conditions were based on the provisions of the Louisiana Registration of Sex Offenders Act, La. R.S. 15:542, which requires a convicted sex offender to register with law enforcement authorities and to provide notice of his crime of conviction, name, and address to neighbors and the superintendent of the school district in which he resides, for a period of ten years following release from imprisonment. La. R.S. 15:542(B)(1). It is undisputed that the Louisiana Act does not apply to Coenen as a federal offender.

*940 II.

Coenen challenges the community notification conditions. In that regard, he also contends that he was entitled to notice that the court was considering imposing them.

Special conditions of supervision are reviewed for abuse of discretion. Along this line, “[s]ection 5D1.3 of the Guidelines gives a sentencing court broad, discretion to impose conditions on supervised release if they are reasonably related to (1) the nature and circumstances of the offense, (2) the need for adequate deterrence of further criminal conduct, and (3) the need to protect the public.” United States v. Mills, 959 F.2d 516, 519 (5th Cir.1992) (emphasis added).

The foregoing language from Mills reflects that, in addition to certain mandatory conditions of supervised release, sentencing courts are authorized to “order, as a further condition of supervised release”, the discretionary conditions of probation set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3563(b)(l)-(10) and (12)-(20) (which do not provide for any community notification requirements ), as well as “any other condition it considers to be appropriate”, to the extent that such condition

(1) is reasonably related to the factors set forth in section 3553(a)(1),(a)(2)(B), (a)(2)(C), and (a)(2)(D);
(2) involves no greater deprivation of liberty than is reasonably necessary for the purposes set forth in section 3553(a)(2)(B), (a)(2)(C), and (a)(2)(D); and
(3) is consistent with any pertinent policy statements issued by the Sentencing Commission pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 994(a)....

18 U.S.C. § 3583(d).

Thus, a special condition must be reasonably related to “the nature and circumstances of the offense and the history and characteristics of the defendant”, 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(1); and must involve no greater deprivation of liberty than is reasonably necessary in the light of the need “to afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct”, 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2)(B), “to protect the publie from further crimes of the defendant”, 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2)(C), and “to provide the defendant with needed educational or vocational training, medical care, or other correctional treatment in the most effective manner”, 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2)(D).

The Sentencing Guidelines track the statute, see U.S.S.G. § 5D1.3; and a policy statement sets forth recommended conditions of supervised release, see U.S.S.G. § 5B1.4 (p.s.). Among those recommended “standard” conditions is the following:

[A]s directed by the probation officer, the defendant shall notify third parties of risks that may be occasioned by the defendant’s criminal record or personal history or characteristics, and shall permit the probation officer to make such notifications and to confirm the defendant’s compliance with such notification requirement.

U.S.S.G. § 5B1.4(a)(13)(p.s.). This condition was included among the boilerplate standard conditions of supervised release included in the judgment against Coenen.

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Bluebook (online)
135 F.3d 938, 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 2603, 1998 WL 65316, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-coenen-ca5-1998.