United States v. Theodore Anthony Cienfuegos

462 F.3d 1160, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 22851, 2006 WL 2573613
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedSeptember 8, 2006
Docket05-10201
StatusPublished
Cited by42 cases

This text of 462 F.3d 1160 (United States v. Theodore Anthony Cienfuegos) 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. Theodore Anthony Cienfuegos, 462 F.3d 1160, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 22851, 2006 WL 2573613 (9th Cir. 2006).

Opinion

OPINION

WARDLAW, Circuit Judge:

The Government appeals the district court’s denial of its motion to order restitution for future lost income to a manslaughter victim’s estate pursuant to the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act of 1996 (“MVRA”), 18 U.S.C. § 3663A(b)(2)(C). Because restitution for future lost income may be ordered under the MVRA so long as it is not based upon speculation, but is reasonably calculable, we reverse and remand to the district court to redetermine the amount of restitution to be awarded.

I

On May 24, 2003, Theodore Anthony Cienfuegos drove to an area on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation known as the Windmill, an open circular area where a number of local residents had gathered to socialize. Shortly after he arrived at the Windmill, Cienfuegos engaged in an altercation with several individuals. He then got into his car and drove into six vehicles parked around the Windmill, causing the nearby crowd to rapidly disperse. Billie Jean Noline, a registered member of the San Carlos Apache Indian tribe, tripped and fell as she ran to avoid the path of Cienfuegos’ vehicle. Cienfuegos ran over Noline with his car, hit a tree, and then backed up and *1162 did it again. Noline was taken to the San Carlos Hospital, where she died as a result of the injuries inflicted by Cienfuegos.

A federal grand jury returned a three-count superseding indictment on August 19, 2004, which charged: (1) second degree murder in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1152, 1111; (2) assault with a dangerous weapon in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1152, 113(a)(3); and (3) assault resulting in serious bodily injury in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1152, 113(a)(6). Cienfuegos pleaded guilty on September 22, 2004 to Count Three of the indictment and to involuntary manslaughter, a lesser included offense of Count One. Cienfuegos’ plea agreement required him to make restitution, with the total amount to be determined by the court at the time of sentencing.

Before sentencing, on February 2, 2005, the Government moved for restitution for Noline’s future lost income pursuant to the MVRA. It submitted a report from a certified public accountant on February 18, 2005, calculating Noline’s lifetime future lost income to be $1,851,134.00. The district court denied restitution for future lost income, reasoning that the complexities associated with determining future lost income belong in a civil action brought by the survivors and not as an adjunct to a federal criminal case. The district court further advised the victim’s family to file a civil suit, as the statute of limitations had not yet expired. The district court sentenced Cienfuegos to a term of imprisonment of fifty-one months on each count, to be served concurrently, followed by three years of supervised release. It also ordered Cienfuegos to pay a special assessment of $200.00 and restitution to the victims for funeral and related expenses in the amount of $11,629.87.

II

We review a restitution order for an abuse of discretion, provided that it is within the bounds of the statutory framework. See United States v. Phillips, 367 F.3d 846, 854 (9th Cir.2004) (as amended). Factual findings supporting a restitution order are reviewed for clear error, United States v. De La Fuente, 353 F.3d 766, 772 (9th Cir.2003), and the legality of a restitution order is reviewed de novo, Phillips, 367 F.3d at 854.

Ill

Cienfuegos first argues that because the Government failed to provide the probation officer with a list of the amounts subject to restitution not later than sixty days prior to sentencing, as was required by 18 U.S.C. § 3664(d)(1), the district court was not compelled to consider the Government’s motion to include future lost earnings in the restitution amount. Cienfuegos also points out that, under 18 U.S.C. § 3664(d)(5), if the victim’s losses are not ascertainable ten days prior to sentencing, then the prosecution is required to notify the court so that the court can set a date for determining the victim’s losses within ninety days after sentencing. The Government responds that any failure to follow the procedural requirements of section 3664 was harmless error.

The Government undisputedly failed to comply with the section 3664 procedures. It submitted its motion for future lost income on February 2, 2005, twenty-one days before the sentencing hearing, and submitted the CPA’s calculation of the amount of future lost income on February 18, 2005, five days before sentencing. Because Cienfuegos timely objected to the Government’s failure to follow the requirements and procedures of section 3664, we review for harmless error. However, because Cienfuegos fails to demonstrate actual prejudice from the Govern- *1163 merit’s failure to comply with the procedural requirements of section 3664, the only entity to suffer prejudice here was Noline’s estate. Therefore, we hold that any error the district court may have made in considering the Government’s untimely future lost income motion was harmless. This accords with decisions of the Second, Fourth, Sixth, and Seventh Circuits, which have held that because the procedural requirements of section 3664 were designed to protect victims, not defendants, the failure to comply with them is harmless error absent actual prejudice to the defendant. As the Second Circuit held in United States v. Zakhary, 357 F.3d 186, 191 (2d Cir.2004):

[T]he purpose behind the statutory ninety-day limit on the determination of victims’ losses is not to protect defendants from drawn-out sentencing proceedings or to establish finality; rather, it is to protect crime victims from the willful dissipation of defendants’ assets.... Mindful of these goals, we have ruled that a district court’s failure to determine identifiable victims’ losses within ninety days after sentencing, as prescribed by § 3664(d)(5), will be deemed harmless error to the defendant unless he can show actual prejudice from the omission.

See also United States v. Johnson, 400 F.3d 187, 198-99 (4th Cir.2005) (failure to comply with the ten-day limit in section 3664(d)(5) is harmless error absent a showing of prejudice); United States v. Vandeberg, 201 F.3d 805

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Bluebook (online)
462 F.3d 1160, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 22851, 2006 WL 2573613, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-theodore-anthony-cienfuegos-ca9-2006.