United States v. David Reinhart

893 F.3d 606
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedJune 18, 2018
Docket16-10409
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 893 F.3d 606 (United States v. David Reinhart) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth 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. David Reinhart, 893 F.3d 606 (9th Cir. 2018).

Opinion

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 16-10409 Plaintiff-Appellant, D.C. No. v. 4:15-cr-00330-JSW-1

DAVID WESLEY REINHART, Defendant-Appellee. OPINION

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California Jeffrey S. White, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted November 16, 2017 San Francisco, California

Filed June 18, 2018

Before: Ronald M. Gould and Mary H. Murguia, Circuit Judges, and Nancy Freudenthal, * Chief District Judge.

Opinion by Judge Murguia

* The Honorable Nancy Freudenthal, Chief United States District Judge for the District of Wyoming, sitting by designation. 2 UNITED STATES V. REINHART

SUMMARY **

Criminal Law

The panel affirmed the district court’s imposition of a 78-month sentence for two counts of possession of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B).

The government argued that based on the defendants’ prior convictions for possession of child pornography (Calif. Penal Code § 311.11(a)) and sexual exploitation of child (Calif. Penal Code § 311.3(a)), he was subject to the ten-year mandatory minimum set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 2252(b)(2) for having had a prior state conviction “relating to” the production, possession, receipt, mailing, sale, distribution, shipment, or transportation of child pornography. The government also argued that in determining whether the prior convictions trigger the § 2252(b)(2) enhancement, the usual Taylor categorical approach does not apply, because the words “relating to” in § 2252(b)(2) mandate a broader comparison of the offenses in the federal and state statutes than the usual comparison between the elements of the state and federal statutes.

Because the terms “child pornography” and “sexually explicit conduct” are explicitly defined in the same statutory chapter as the sentencing enhancement provision at § 2252(b)(2), the panel did not depart from the usual, elements-based, categorical approach to determine whether

** This summary constitutes no part of the opinion of the court. It has been prepared by court staff for the convenience of the reader. UNITED STATES V. REINHART 3

the defendant’s prior California statutes of conviction trigger the mandatory minimum provision in § 2252(b)(2).

Following United States v. Chavez-Solis, 803 F.3d 1004 (9th Cir. 2015), the panel held that § 311.11(a) is categorically overbroad because it sweeps in depictions of a broader range of “sexual conduct” than the federal child pornography statute; and that the statute is not divisible. The panel likewise held that § 311.3(a) is categorically overbroad as compared to the federal definition of “sexually explicit conduct,” and that it is not divisible. The panel therefore did not look to any fact-specific documents to determine whether either of the defendant’s prior convictions was an offense “relating to” the production, possession, receipt, mailing, sale, distribution, shipment, or transportation of child pornography under § 2252(b)(2), and concluded that neither of the prior convictions triggers the mandatory minimum sentence.

COUNSEL

Jonas Lerman (argued), Assistant United States Attorney; J. Douglas Wilson, Chief, Appellate Division; United States Attorney’s Office, San Francisco, California; for Plaintiff- Appellant.

Ned Smock (argued), Assistant Federal Public Defender; Steven G. Kalar, Federal Public Defender; Office of the Federal Public Defender, Oakland, California; for Defendant-Appellee. 4 UNITED STATES V. REINHART

OPINION

MURGUIA, Circuit Judge:

David Reinhart was convicted of two counts of possession of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B). A defendant convicted of this offense who has “a prior conviction . . . under the laws of any State relating to . . . the production, possession, receipt, mailing, sale, distribution, shipment, or transportation of child pornography” is subject to a ten-year mandatory minimum sentence. 18 U.S.C. § 2252(b)(2) (emphasis added). Reinhart was previously convicted of possession of child pornography and sexual exploitation of child, in violation of California Penal Code §§ 311.11(a) and 311.3(a), respectively. We decide whether Reinhart’s prior California convictions constitute offenses “relating to” child pornography under 18 U.S.C. § 2252(b)(2), which imposes a ten-year mandatory minimum sentence. The district court found neither of Reinhart’s prior convictions constituted prior convictions under 18 U.S.C. § 2252(b)(2). We affirm.

I. Background

In June 2015, the government charged Reinhart with two counts of possession of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B). The charges were based on images of child pornography discovered during an undercover online investigation and execution of a search warrant on Reinhart’s residence. Reinhart pleaded guilty to both counts without a plea agreement. At sentencing, the parties disputed whether Reinhart’s prior California convictions constituted prior convictions under 18 U.S.C. § 2252(b)(2) and whether Reinhart should be sentenced pursuant to § 2252(b)(2)’s ten-year mandatory minimum. Prior to sentencing, both the government and Reinhart UNITED STATES V. REINHART 5

submitted sentencing memoranda arguing their respective positions on the issue.

Previously, in 2002, Reinhart was convicted of two misdemeanor counts of violating California Penal Code § 311.11(a), possession of child pornography, and one misdemeanor count of violating California Penal Code § 311.3(a), sexual exploitation of child. The convictions arose from police officers’ search of Reinhart’s apartment where the officers found printed images of children that qualified as child pornography under California law. At sentencing in the present case, the district court considered whether these prior California convictions triggered the federal sentencing enhancement, § 2252(b)(2), which would require the court to impose a ten-year mandatory minimum sentence. Section 2252(b)(2) is a recidivist penalty and sentencing enhancement for those, such as Reinhart, convicted federally of possession of child pornography under § 2252(a)(4), and who have certain prior offenses. It provides:

if such person [convicted under § 2252(a)(4)] has a prior conviction under . . . the laws of any State relating to aggravated sexual abuse, sexual abuse, or abusive sexual conduct involving a minor or ward, or the production, possession, receipt, mailing, sale, distribution, shipment, or transportation of child pornography, such person shall be fined under this title and imprisoned for not less than 10 years nor more than 20 years.

§ 2252(b)(2) (emphasis added).

At sentencing before the district court, the government argued that the words “relating to” in § 2252(b)(2) should be 6 UNITED STATES V. REINHART

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893 F.3d 606, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-david-reinhart-ca9-2018.