United States v. Rivers

99 F. App'x 442
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedJune 7, 2004
Docket03-4626
StatusUnpublished

This text of 99 F. App'x 442 (United States v. Rivers) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third 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. Rivers, 99 F. App'x 442 (3d Cir. 2004).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

ALARCÓN, Circuit Judge.

Appellant Bryan Rivers appeals from the order revoking his supervised release and sentencing him to eighteen months of incarceration. Because we conclude that the district court properly found that Mr. Rivers violated the conditions of his supervised release, we affirm.

I

On June 24,1998, Mr. Rivers pled guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). He was sentenced to forty-six months of incarceration and three years of supervised release on January 20, 2000. Mr. Rivers completed his sentence and was released from a federal correctional institute on January 10, 2003. His term of supervised release was set to expire on January 9, 2006.

On May 13, 2003, Mr. Rivers was arrested by Wilmington, Delaware police officers and charged with state-law offenses related to heroin distribution. In August of 2003, the District Court for the District of Delaware issued a summons for the arrest of Mr. Rivers for violation of the conditions of his supervised release.

On October 9, 2003, Mr. Rivers was questioned for four hours by Wilmington police officers as a suspect in an indecent exposure investigation. He was released without being charged with a violation of state law. On October 14, 2003, the Wilmington Police Department notified the United States Probation Office of Mr. Rivers’s October 9, 2003 contact with the police.

Because Mr. Rivers failed to report this police contact to the United States Probation Office, a warrant was issued for his arrest. Mr. Rivers was arrested on the same date.

The district court conducted a revocation hearing on November 18, 2003. After hearing the evidence and the argument of counsel, the district court found that Mr. Rivers had violated the conditions of his supervised release by committing another state or federal crime 1 and by failing to notify his probation officer within seventy-two hours of his having been questioned by law enforcement officers. The district court revoked Mr. Rivers’s supervised release and sentenced him to imprisonment for eighteen months.

II

A.

Mr. Rivers contends that the district court erred in determining that he *444 violated the condition of his supervised release that he report any contact with law enforcement officers within seventy-two hours. He argues that he did not violate this condition because he was questioned on Thursday, October 9, 2003. He maintains that under the rule of lenity, the intervening weekend, and the Columbus Day holiday on Monday, October 12, 2003, when the Probation Office was closed, tolled the seventy-two hour period. This court exercises plenary review over a district court’s legal conclusions. United States v. Hodge, 321 F.3d 429, 433 (3d Cir.2003).

Standard Condition Number 11 of Mr. Rivers’s supervised release provided that he “[s]hall notify the probation officer within 72 horn’s of being arrested or questioned by a law enforcement officer.” Mr. Rivers contends that the rule of lenity is applicable because the term “within 72 hours” is ambiguous. We disagree. The language used in Condition Number 11 is free of any ambiguity. The rule of lenity is inapplicable. Where, as here, the intent of the drafter has been “expressed in reasonably plain terms, ‘that language must ordinarily be regarded as conclusive.’ ” Griffin v. Oceanic Contractors, Inc., 458 U.S. 564, 570, 102 S.Ct. 3245, 73 L.Ed.2d 973 (1982) (quoting Consumer Prod. Safety Comm’n v. GTE Sylvania, Inc., 447 U.S. 102, 108, 100 S.Ct. 2051, 64 L.Ed.2d 766 (1980)).

Mr. Rivers has referred us to federal rules and case law where the computation of time limitations excludes intervening weekends and holidays. In each instance, however, language extending the applicable time limit is clearly set forth. See Powell v. Nevada, 511 U.S. 79, 81, 114 S.Ct. 1280, 128 L.Ed.2d 1 (1994) (interpreting a Nevada statute that provides: “If an arrested person is not brought before a magistrate within 72 hours after arrest, excluding nonjudicial days”); Tony L. ex rel. Simpson v. Childers, 71 F.3d 1182, 1186, n. 6 (6th Cir.1995) (interpreting a state statute that a written report be generated after receipt of a report of child abuse “within seventy-two (72) hours, exclusive of weekends and holidays”); See also Rule 26(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure (stating that in computing time, “[ejxclude intermediate Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays when the period is less than 11 days, unless stated in calendar days”); Rule 45(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure (providing that, in computing time “[ejxclude intermediate Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays when the period is less than 11 days”).

Condition Number 11 contains no comparable language that extends the time period beyond seventy-two hours. Its meaning is plain and unambiguous. The district court did not err in determining that “72 hours means 72 hours.”

B.

Mr. Rivers further contends that the district court violated his right to due process by considering information contained in the probation officer’s report that was not admitted into evidence during the revocation proceedings. He argues that he was denied the opportunity to confront and challenge the evidence. Mr. Rivers argues that as a result of the improper reliance on the information in the probation officer’s memorandum, he was sentenced to eighteen months of imprisonment for possessing heroin rather than the lesser punishment for simple possession. Mr. Rivers did not cite any authority in support of this contention. This court reviews de novo a claim of denial of due process at a revocation hearing. United States v. Barnhart, 980 F.2d 219, 222 (3d Cir.1992).

*445 During her argument, the prosecutor stated that in determining whether Mr. Rivers had possessed heroin with intent to deliver it, the court should consider the fact that Mr. Rivers had never tested positive for drug use. The prosecutor argued that the court could infer from this fact that Mr. Rivers did not possess the heroin for his personal use. Mr. Rivers’s counsel objected to the prosecutor’s comment.

In his memorandum to the court setting forth the court’s sentencing options, the probation officer stated that “Mr.

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Related

Griffin v. Oceanic Contractors, Inc.
458 U.S. 564 (Supreme Court, 1982)
Powell v. Nevada
511 U.S. 79 (Supreme Court, 1994)
United States v. Charles Barnhart
980 F.2d 219 (Third Circuit, 1992)
United States v. Albert M. Lee
315 F.3d 206 (Third Circuit, 2003)
"Tony" L. ex rel. Simpson v. Childers
71 F.3d 1182 (Sixth Circuit, 1995)

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Bluebook (online)
99 F. App'x 442, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-rivers-ca3-2004.