United States v. Norcome

375 F. Supp. 270, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8432
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedMay 21, 1974
DocketCrim. 2047-72
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 375 F. Supp. 270 (United States v. Norcome) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Norcome, 375 F. Supp. 270, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8432 (D.D.C. 1974).

Opinion

INTRODUCTION

CHARLES R. RICHEY, District Judge.

This case came before the Court for the sentencing of Ricardo Norcome, age 20, who was convicted of conspiracy and robbery of a Federal savings and loan association. Since the Defendant was eligible for sentencing under the provisions of the Federal Youth Corrections Act, 18 U.S.C. § 5005 et seq., the Court ordered the Defendant committed to a Youth Center for 60 days of observation and study and the preparation of a report to aid sentencing pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 5010(e).

The report recommended that the Defendant be denied his “presumptive right to rehabilitative treatment” 1 in a special youth facility and, instead, be sentenced as an adult. The seriousness of this recommendation, in light of the Congressional mandate under the Youth Act to substitute rehabilitation for retribution in the sentencing of young persons convicted of federal crimes 2 necessitated the Court’s close scrutiny of the report. In its review, the Court concluded that the report did not provide an adequate statement of reasons explaining why the Defendant would not derive benefit from Youth Act programs and it did not provide adequate factual data to support the recommendation. The Court, therefore, ordered a second § 5010(e) study and report. Upon reviewing the body of the report and the conclusions reached therein, the Court found that the Classification Committee which prepared the findings and recommendation had not focused upon whether the Defendant would “derive benefit from treatment under” the Act’s youth treatment provisions, nor had it applied the test of “incorrigibility” to the facts gathered during the period of study and observation. See 18 U.S.C. § 5010(e), United States v. Coefield, 155 U.S.App. D.C. 205, 476 F.2d 1152 (1973) (en banc).

The second § 5010(e) report was submitted 60 days later and contained the same recommendations as the first study. The shallowness of the second report, the so-called “Addendum Report”, and its faijure to relate the factual data to the conclusions reached therein, made it necessary for the Court to hold a fact-finding hearing. The hearing was important first, to develop an adequate body of information with which to make a well-reasoned decision respecting the Defendant’s sentence and, second, to ascertain the investigatory measures and analytic tools employed by corrections personnel in preparing the reports as well as the nature and extent of their training and their reasons for relying in their recommendation on cliches such as “severity of the offense”, the Defendant’s need for “structured setting”, the Defendant’s “empty” and “bland” personality, the Defendant’s “lack of moti *274 vation”, or his “hedonistic behavior”, etc. In the course of the hearings the Court heard testimony from all federal and District of Columbia corrections personnel who had participated in the preparation and review of the aforementioned § 5010(e) studies. .

The Court felt then and feels now that a thorough exploration of the facts in the instant case and examination of the administrative practices applied by the Government ■ in undertaking the expensive § 5010(e) diagnostic study was necessary. The record of the hearing reflects administrative practices in the diagnostic examination of youth offenders that border on extreme governmental dereliction of Congressionally-mandated responsibilities under the Act. By way of introduction it is worthwhile to highlight several examples of carelessness in the preparation of the instant § 5010(e) reports which undercut completely the usefulness of the administrative findings submitted to the Court in aid of sentencing.

First, the Court found that before the second § 5010(e) study was returned to the Court, a Classification team at Lorton Youth Center II, where the Defendant underwent the second study, recommended that the Defendant receive a Youth Act sentence. But the team’s re port and recommendation was never made known to the Court, and was ignored by the Classification Committee at Youth Center II which prepared both the original and addendum reports for the Court. It only came to light as a result of the Court’s hearings and inquiry into the facts of this matter, as it was found in the institutional file. [Court’s Exhibit 5] Second, both of these reports relied on a pending charge cited therein which had, in fact, been dismissed six weeks before• the original report was prepared.

It should also be noted at this point that on the eve of the first hearing, the Assistant United States Attorney representing the Government, who is also the Chief of the Criminal Division in this Court, submitted to the Court a letter from the United States Bureau of Prisons withdrawing its initial recommendation in favor of a youth sentence. [Court’s Exhibit 3] No reasons were provided. In light of this changed position, government counsel requested the Court to sentence the Defendant pursuant to one of the commitment provisions of the Act and to recommend that the Attorney General place the Defendant in a federal youth facility rather than a youth center administered by the District of Columbia. 3

*275 The Court denied this request and commenced the hearing. During the hearing, each person called to testify because he participated in the preparation of the two § 5010(e) reports reversed his original recommendation and agreed that Youth Act treatment was appropriate in this case. On the basis of this testimony, and in light of the evidence introduced into the record, the Court determined the Defendant was eligible for Youth Act treatment and, accordingly, sentenced him pursuant to the terms of 18 U.S.C. § 5010(b).

While the matter might appropriately end here, the facts of this case insofar as they shed light on the administration of the § 5010(e) study process, have significance far beyond the instant matter of sentencing. The reason is clear. In every Youth Act case, this Court is compelled to take a “hard look” at the record and, where a § 5010(e) report and recommendation is ultimately followed by the Court, to make certain that the diagnostic staff has properly focused on the relevant issues. This “hard look” compulsion comes from a recent line of cases decided by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit requiring this Court to make an explicit “no benefit” finding before sentencing a youth offender to an adult prison. See, for example, United States v. Coefield, supra. Since the determination that a youth will not derive benefit from Youth Act treatment is largely a question of fact, this Court, to the extent it relies on a § 5010(e) report,

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Bluebook (online)
375 F. Supp. 270, 1974 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8432, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-norcome-dcd-1974.