United States v. Robinson

970 F. Supp. 2d 725, 2013 WL 5278325, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 133975
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedSeptember 19, 2013
DocketCase No. 09-20091
StatusPublished

This text of 970 F. Supp. 2d 725 (United States v. Robinson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Robinson, 970 F. Supp. 2d 725, 2013 WL 5278325, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 133975 (E.D. Mich. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION INCORPORATING AND EXPANDING ON REASONS FOR RE-SENTENCING GIVEN ON THE RECORD

ARTHUR J. TARNOW, Senior District Judge.

I. Background

On March 3, 2009, the United States filed an information charging Defendant [727]*727Rufus Robinson with a single count of possession of child pornography in violation of title 18 U.S.C. § 2552A(a)(5). On March 18, 2009, Mr. Robinson pled guilty to this charge without a plea agreement.

On June 17, 2009, this Court held a sentencing hearing for Mr.' Robinson. The Court found that Mr. Robinson had a base offense-level of eighteen, adding thirteen levels due to certain aggravating factors, and subtracting three levels because of Mr. Robinson’s acceptance of responsibility. This calculation resulted in an offense level of twenty-eight. Because Mr. Robinson had no criminal history, the Court placed him in a Criminal History Category of 1, providing Mr. Robinson a Sentencing Guideline range of 78 to 97 months: After consideration of Mr. Robinson’s offense, lack of criminal history, voluntary enrollment in treatment,•. and a psychological report finding that Mr. Robinson was not a pedophile, the Court sentenced Mr. Robinson to one day in custody and five years of supervised release, including mental health treatment as deemed necessary by Mr. Robinson’s probation officer.

On July 27, 2009, the Government appealed this sentence. The Sixth Circuit Court found the sentence procedurally reasonable and substantively unreasonable, and reversed the sentence and remanded the case for the resentencing of Mr. Robinson. The Sixth Circuit Court found that while this Court’s factual findings were not clearly erroneous, the factors relied upon by this Court and articulated on the record did not justify its variance from the sentencing guidelines. Specifically, the appellate court held that this Court did not sufficiently discuss and consider the seriousness of the offense, the need for deterrence, and the creation of sentence disparities.

On July 26, 2012, Mr. Robinson petitioned to the Supreme Court for a review the Sixth Circuit Court’s ruling. On January 14, 2013, the Supreme Court denied the petition.

This Court acknowledges the inadequacy of the reasons given on the record during Mr. Robinson’s initial sentencing hearing in June 2009.

This Court held a hearing on August 22, 2013. For the reasons stated on the record during this second hearing and for the reasons expanding on the record set forth below, this Court imposes a sentence of one day in custody and increases the term of supervised release from five years to ten years, which includes all standard conditions, all necessary mental health treatment, and regular lie detector tests. These conditions were described on the record and are further detailed in the Amended Judgment [52] entered on August-28, 2013. The one-day sentence imposed by this Court is reasonable, and is supported by consideration of the totality of all relevant factors under title 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), including Mr. Robinson’s positive post-conviction rehabilitation.

II. Overview

At various stages of a criminal prosecution, Congress, law enforcement, the Prosecution, and this Court exercise broad discretion over the outcome of the prosecution. At the outset, Congress defined the scope of a crime. In this case, Mr. Robinson was charged and convicted under title 18 U.S.C. § 2552A, in which Congress delineated seven separate offenses requiring varying degrees of culpability. It then defined separate minimum and maximum punishments for these offenses, showing that Congress recognized that the different offenses are considered more or less serious. For five of the offenses listed under § 2552A, Congress mandated that a convicted person must be imprisoned for not less than five years. [728]*728For another-offense, Congress.established a punishment of imprisonment for not more than fifteen years. Mr. Robinson was charged under § 2552A(5)(a), for which Congress mandated imprisonment for not more than ten years, with no mandatory minimum sentence. Again, based on the various offense levels and their respective punishments, Congress clearly recognized that these crimes are graduated in terms of seriousness, culpability, and necessary punishment.

Within the bounds created by Congress, law enforcement exercises its discretion in its investigation of particular criminal behavior and the arrest of specific individuals. The Prosecutor also exercises its discretion in the selection of the offense or offenses charged, or whether to charge an individual with a crime at all. The Prosecutor determines how culpable it believes this individual is, whether it will offer a plea bargain, and if so, on what terms.

Following the acceptance of a guilty plea or a jury conviction, the Court then excises all available discretion in sentencing. The Supreme Court has clearly established that the Sentencing Guidelines are not mandatory, rather advisory. Though a sentencing court must consider the Guidelines’ ranges, the court may “tailor the sentence in light of other statutory concerns.” United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 245-46, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (U.S.2005). The sentencing court’s discretion is governed by the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors. See id. As-such, the Guidelines “serve as one factor among several courts must consider in determining an appropriate sentence.” Kimbrough n United States, 552 U.S. 85, 90, 128 S.Ct. 558, 169 L.Ed.2d 481 (U.S.2007). Specifically, the sentencing judge must make an “individualized assessment based on the facts presented. If he decides that an outside — Guidelines sentence is warranted, he must consider the. extent of the deviation and ensure that the justification is sufficiently compelling to - support the degree of the variance.” Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 50, 128 S.Ct. 586, 169 L.Ed.2d 445 (U.S.2007). The Sentencing Guidelines mandate that “[n]o limitation shall be placed on the information concerning the background, character, and conduct of a person convicted of an offense which a court of the United States may receive and consider for the purpose of imposing an appropriate sentence.” 18 U.S.C. § 3661. The appellate court may review the discretion of the sentencing court, ensuring that discretion has not been abused and that the sentence imposed is reasonable. See Pepper v. United States,—U.S.-, 131 S.Ct. 1229, 124CM1, 179 L.Ed.2d 196 (U.S.2011). However, the Sixth Circuit Court has unambiguously . held that the “appellate courts must respect the role of district courts and stop substituting their judgment for that of those courts on the front line.” United States v. Phinazee, 515 F.3d 511, 521 (6th Cir.2008).

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Related

Williams v. New York
337 U.S. 241 (Supreme Court, 1949)
Koon v. United States
518 U.S. 81 (Supreme Court, 1996)
United States v. Booker
543 U.S. 220 (Supreme Court, 2004)
Kimbrough v. United States
552 U.S. 85 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Gall v. United States
552 U.S. 38 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Tapia v. United States
131 S. Ct. 2382 (Supreme Court, 2011)
United States v. Phinazee
515 F.3d 511 (Sixth Circuit, 2008)
Pepper v. United States
179 L. Ed. 2d 196 (Supreme Court, 2011)

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Bluebook (online)
970 F. Supp. 2d 725, 2013 WL 5278325, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 133975, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-robinson-mied-2013.