United States v. Crespo

651 F. App'x 10
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit
DecidedJune 1, 2016
Docket15-270, 15-2157
StatusUnpublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 651 F. App'x 10 (United States v. Crespo) 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. Crespo, 651 F. App'x 10 (2d Cir. 2016).

Opinion

SUMMARY ORDER

David J. Crespo appeals from the judgment of conviction and sentence of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut (Burns, J.; Hall, C.J.). We assume the parties’ familiarity with the underlying facts, the procedural history, and the issues presented for review.

1. Crespo challenges whether there was a factual basis for his plea. We ordinarily review such a challenge for abuse of discretion; but when (as here) a defendant did'not challenge the validity of his plea before the district court at the time it was entered, we review for plain error only. See United States v. Garcia, 587 F.3d 509, 515 (2d Cir.2009) (citing United States v. Vonn, 535 U.S. 55, 58-59, 122 S.Ct. 1043, 152 L.Ed.2d 90 (2002)).

*12 Crespo claims that his guilty plea is invalid because he did not admit to facts articulated by Government counsel— specifically, that he acted with specific intent to defraud. However, the district court inquired whether Crespo had violated the mail fraud statute and did so by advising him of the specific elements of the offense, including “knowingly and willfully participat[ing] in the scheme or artifice to defraud with knowledge of its fraudulent nature, and with specific intent to defraud...” J. App’x at 61-62 (emphasis added). Crespo responded, ‘Yes.” Id. This admission, coupled with the Government’s detailed proffer of the facts, satisfied the requirements of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(b)(3). See Garcia, 587 F.3d at 518.

‘2. Crespo claims that the district court erred by advising him to speak to his attorney when Crespo raised questions about whether he should have pleaded guilty. A district court may permit a defendant to withdraw a guilty plea after acceptance only if he “can show a fair and just reason for requesting the withdrawal.” Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(d)(2)(B). Although Crespo made comments during a hearing that suggest that he was unhappy with the plea, he never made a motion to withdraw his guilty plea. Crespo’s wish to withdraw his plea appears motivated by his own reevaluation of the strength of the Government’s case; that is not a “fair and just” reason he should have been permitted to withdraw his plea. See United States v. Figueroa, 757 F.2d 466, 475 (2d Cir.1985). (“The reasons urged by [defendant] to support his withdrawal motion boil down to a change of heart prompted by a reevaluation of the government’s case against him; but these do not constitute sufficient justification to overturn the district court’s broad discretion in this area.”).

3. Crespo argues that the district court impermissibly denied him the right to self-representation or hybrid representation in violation of the Sixth Amendment. Whether a defendant has knowingly and intelligently waived counsel is a question of law, reviewed de novo, as applied to the facts as found by the district court, which are reviewed for clear error. See Brewer v. Williams, 430 U.S. 387, 403, 97 S.Ct. 1232, 51 L.Ed.2d 424 (1977). “[E]ven after the right to proceed pro se has been clearly and unequivocally asserted, the right may be waived through conduct indicating that one is vacillating on the issue or has abandoned one’s request altogether.” United States v. Barnes, 693 F.3d 261, 271 (2d Cir.2012).

Crespo filed a letter request for appointment of new counsel, or, in the alternative, to appear pro se. The district court held a hearing with both standby counsel and appointed counsel, and at the hearing Crespo and his attorney acknowledged that they had reconciled. Furthermore, by accepting appointed counsel’s representation for the months leading up to sentencing, Crespo made clear by conduct that he had abandoned his request to represent himself. See Id. at 272. Accordingly, the district court did not violate Crespo’s Sixth Amendment rights.

Insofar as Crespo challenges the denial of hybrid representation — to which he had no constitutional right — he fails to demonstrate abuse of the district court’s discretion to deny the request. See Clark v. Perez, 510 F.3d 382, 394 (2d Cir.2008).

4. Crespo argues that his sentence was proeedurally and substantively unreasonable. We review sentencing under a “deferential abuse-of-discretion standard.” United States v. Cavera, 550 F.3d 180, 189 (2d Cir.2008) (en banc) (quoting Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 41, 128 S.Ct. 586, 169 L.Ed.2d 445 (2007)). A sentence is proce *13 durally reasonable so long as the district court did not commit a “significant procedural error, such as failing to calculate (or improperly calculating) the Guidelines range, treating the Guidelines as mandatory, failing to consider the [18 U.S.C.] § 3553(a) factors, selecting a sentence based on clearly erroneous facts, or failing to adequately explain the chosen sentence — including an explanation for any deviation from the Guidelines range.” Gall, 552 U.S. at 51, 128 S.Ct. 586.

If the sentence is procedurally sound, we then “consider the substantive reasonableness of the sentence imposed_• takfing] into account the totality of the circumstances.” Id. A sentence imposed by the district court is substantively unreasonable only if it “cannot be located within the range of permissible decisions.” Cavera, 550 F.3d at 189 (quoting United States v. Rigas, 490 F.3d 208, 238 (2d Cir.2007)). We will set aside sentencing decisions only in “exceptional cases,” id. as we will not substitute our judgment for that of the district court, United States v. Fernandez, 443 F.3d 19, 27 (2d Cir.2006).

Crespo makes three arguments as to why his sentence was procedurally unreasonable. First, Crespo asserts that the district court made no findings prior to imposing the sentence; however, the district court stated its findings and issued a memorandum explaining how it calculated intended loss and why it applied and rejected certain enhancements. Crespo argues that the notice of appeal divested the district court of jurisdiction to issue this memorandum, but the memorandum did not modify the judgment substantively and was a permissible act in “aid of’ the appeal. See United States v. Nichols, 56 F.3d 403, 411 (2d Cir.1995).

Second, Crespo argues that the intended loss finding (which added 14 points to the base offense level) was erroneous because the Government did not prove that one of the paintings at issue was fake, that Crespo intended to sell it for approximately $725,000, or that Crespo knew the artwork was fake.

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Bluebook (online)
651 F. App'x 10, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-crespo-ca2-2016.