United States v. Jeremy Hatley

CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedJanuary 26, 2018
Docket17-30288
StatusUnpublished

This text of United States v. Jeremy Hatley (United States v. Jeremy Hatley) 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. Jeremy Hatley, (5th Cir. 2018).

Opinion

Case: 17-30288 Document: 00514324698 Page: 1 Date Filed: 01/26/2018

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals

No. 17-30288 Fifth Circuit

FILED January 26, 2018

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Lyle W. Cayce Clerk Plaintiff - Appellee

v.

JEREMY HATLEY,

Defendant - Appellant

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana USDC No. 6:16-CR-64-1

Before REAVLEY, ELROD, and SOUTHWICK, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Sheriff’s Department Sergeant Jeremy Hatley pled guilty to violating 18 U.S.C. § 242, deprivation of rights under color of law, and 18 U.S.C. § 1001, making a false statement. After receiving a within-Guidelines sentence of 36 months, he appeals, contending the district court erred in its Guidelines calculations, made various procedural errors, and imposed a substantively unreasonable sentence. We VACATE and REMAND for resentencing.

* Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4. Case: 17-30288 Document: 00514324698 Page: 2 Date Filed: 01/26/2018

No. 17-30288 FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND On April 29, 2011, Sergeant Jeremy Hatley, a K-9 handler, went to the chapel of the Iberia Parish Jail (“IPJ”) for a shakedown of a prisoner. The chapel, which was not under the jail’s video surveillance, was the setting for a violent beating of a pre-trial detainee, S.S. Hatley sat in silence in the chapel as he saw his fellow officers assault S.S. Without intervening, Hatley watched a narcotics agent place a flashlight between his legs, stand before S.S., and force S.S. to mimic performing fellatio on the flashlight. The agent pushed the flashlight so far into S.S.’s mouth that S.S. began to choke. During the assault, S.S. was kneeling, restrained, and compliant. Hatley believed he had a duty to intervene but did nothing. Four years later, the FBI interviewed Hatley as part of an investigation of this and other beatings of prisoners in the chapel. During the interview, Hatley knowingly stated he had never witnessed any inmates abused in the chapel. Later, Hatley corrected his statement. Ultimately, twelve defendants were charged with the abuses, including Sheriff Louis Ackal. Ackal was acquitted after a five-day jury trial. Although several other defendants testified at Ackal’s trial, Hatley did not. In 2016, pursuant to a plea agreement, Hatley pled guilty to two counts: (1) a misdemeanor violation of 18 U.S.C. § 242 and (2) a felony violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001. Regarding the Section 242 count, the bill of information to which he pled provided that “the Defendant chose not to intervene as other officers assaulted S.S. in the chapel of the IPJ, despite having the opportunity to do so, and despite knowing that he had a duty to do so.” Hatley’s plea further provided that he willfully deprived S.S. “of the right to be free from the use of excessive force amounting to punishment by a law enforcement officer” while acting under the color of law. Regarding the Section 1001 count, Hatley 2 Case: 17-30288 Document: 00514324698 Page: 3 Date Filed: 01/26/2018

No. 17-30288 admitted in his plea that “he knowingly and willfully made false statements and representations in a matter within the jurisdiction of the FBI[.]” The presentence investigation report (“PSR”) calculated the base offense level for the Section 242 offense as 14. U.S.S.G. § 2H1.1, which applies to violations of Section 242, provides that sentencing courts should use the offense level from the Guideline applicable to the underlying offense if it results in the highest base offense level. Because the underlying offense was an aggravated assault, which pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2A2.2 has a base offense level of 14, the PSR determined that 14 was the base offense level for the Section 242 violation. The PSR then recommended a four-point enhancement for use of a deadly weapon, a three-point enhancement for bodily injury, a six- point enhancement because the violation was committed under color of law, and a two-point adjustment because the victim was physically restrained. The total offense level in the PSR for the Section 242 offense was 29. The PSR calculated the base offense level for the Section 1001 violation as 23, using U.S.S.G. § 2J1.2 as the applicable Guideline and making no adjustments. The PSR grouped the two counts as closely related, and, following U.S.S.G. § 3D1.3(a), determined the offense level for the group was 29. Hatley then received a two-point deduction for acceptance of responsibility and a one-point deduction for his assistance. The total offense level for the two counts was thus 26. This offense level combined with Hatley’s criminal history category of I resulted in a Guidelines range of 63–78 months, which, due to the statutory maximum that the each count carried, was reduced to a maximum of 72 months. Before sentencing, Hatley filed eleven written objections to the PSR. The Government also filed a Section 5K1.1 motion requesting a reduction based on Hatley’s substantial assistance. The seven-level reduction for his substantial 3 Case: 17-30288 Document: 00514324698 Page: 4 Date Filed: 01/26/2018

No. 17-30288 assistance would result in a suggested offense level of 19 and a Guidelines range of 30–37 months. These filings were addressed by the district court at sentencing. The district court first ruled on the written objections. The nature of the objections will be discussed later as relevant. Objections 1, 2, and 3 were overruled for two reasons: “I remember your testimony in the Ackal trial and the reasons stated by the probation office.” 1 The district court overruled Objections 4, 5, 6, 7, and 10; noted Objections 8 and 11; and said that the issue raised in Objection 9 had been corrected. The district court then heard argument from Hatley’s counsel and a statement from Hatley. After adopting the factual findings contained in the PSR, the district court imposed a sentence of six months for Count 1 and 30 months for Count 2. The district court ordered the sentences to run consecutively. In explaining the sentence, the district court stated: “I selected this based on your personal history and personal characteristics and involvement in the current offense as well as the 5K motion and your service to your country.” After sentencing, Hatley filed a motion for reconsideration of the sentence, which the district court denied. Hatley timely appealed.

DISCUSSION The reasonableness of a district court’s sentencing decision is reviewed for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Johnson, 648 F.3d 273, 276 (5th Cir. 2011). This court employs a two-step review. United States v. Robinson, 741 F.3d 588, 598 (5th Cir. 2014). First, we determine whether the district court committed procedural errors, such as miscalculating the Guidelines

The district court stated that the second and third objections were “overruled for the 1

same reasons” as the first objection. 4 Case: 17-30288 Document: 00514324698 Page: 5 Date Filed: 01/26/2018

No. 17-30288 range or failing to consider the Section 3553(a) factors. Id. Procedural errors are reviewed for harmless error. Id.

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