United States v. Williams

18 F. App'x 637
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in United States v. Williams. Read the opinion of the Court — 11 F. App'x 842
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit·Decided September 10, 2001·No. No. 99-50304; D.C. No. CR-97-00038-GLT-4·Published

Opinion

MEMORANDUM2

Charles Williams appeals his conviction and sentence after pleading guilty to one count of aiding and abetting a bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2(a), 2113(a). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and affirm.

Because the parties are familiar with the factual and procedural history of this case, we do not recount it here except as necessary to explain our decision.

1. Denial of reduction for acceptance of responsibility

Williams challenges the district court’s denial of a 3-point reduction for acceptance of responsibility. “We review for clear error a district court’s decision to deny a reduction for acceptance of responsibility.” United States v. Fleming, 215 F.3d 930, 939 (9th Cir.2000). “In reviewing a district court’s determination as to a defendant’s acceptance of responsibility, we must afford the district court ‘great deference’ because of its unique position to evaluate a defendant’s acceptance of responsibility.” United States v. Scrivener, 189 F.3d 944, 948 (9th Cir.1999) (citations and internal quotations omitted). A preponderance of the evidence standard applies to the district court’s factual findings. See United States v. Collins, 109 F.3d 1413, 1420 (9th Cir.1997).

Section 3El.l(a) of the Sentencing Guidelines provides for a reduction for acceptance of responsibility. A defendant must “clearly demonstrate[ ] acceptance of responsibility for his offense.” Id. “One example of inconsistent conduct that weighs against a finding of acceptance of responsibility is a defendant’s attempt to [640]*640minimize his own involvement in the offense.” Scrivener, 189 F.3d at 948 (citation omitted).

Williams denied — contrary to the factual basis of his plea agreement — that he actually entered the bank. He claimed to the probation officer that on the day of the robbery he only intended to drive around, never got out of the van, did not know where they were going, and did not take it seriously when the others discussed the robbery.

Accordingly, the district court reasoned that Williams attempted to minimize his role in the bank robbery. Much was made in the sentencing proceedings of whether Williams actually entered the bank. The district court weighed the evidence after an evidentiary hearing and found by a preponderance of the evidence that Williams had entered the bank and thus had not accepted responsibility. Substantial evidence in the record supports the district court’s finding.

Williams argues that “entry” was not an element of the offense to which he pled (aiding and abetting a bank robbery) and was likewise not “relevant conduct” because he would have been guilty whether he entered or not. True, “entry” was not an element of the offense as the indictment had described it (even if Williams aided others in entering the bank). Title 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a) has at least two ways to commit bank robbery, only one of which requires “entry.” However, this does not mean “entry” was not otherwise “relevant conduct.”

Williams contends that “entry” was not “relevant conduct” because, according to the application notes of the guidelines, “relevant conduct” is limited to conduct comprising the offense of conviction. See U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 3E1.1, cmt. n. 1. Nevertheless, whether Williams entered the bank was critical to determining whether or not he was affirmatively minimizing his role in the robbery. He told the probation officer he didn’t intend to participate, he only intended to “hit corners” (i.e., drive around), he didn’t know where they were going, that the van was only following the jeep, that a robbery had been discussed but he did not take it seriously, and that he sat in the back seat. He certainly attempted to “minimize his own involvement in the offense.” Scrivener, 189 F.3d at 948.

The Guidelines’ concern in not requiring admission of relevant conduct beyond the offense of conviction is primarily with not requiring admission of other crimes or criminal behavior as a prerequisite for a point reduction. See, e.g., United States v. Rutledge, 28 F.3d 998, 1002 (9th Cir.1994) (“conditioning an acceptance of responsibility reduction upon the defendant’s admission of conduct for which he had not been convicted could violate his Fifth Amendment rights”) (citation omitted). Here, whether Williams entered the bank was an issue regarding conduct occurring during the robbery itself, not a separate crime.

Further, the application notes to section 3El.l(a) refer to “relevant conduct for which the defendant is accountable under § 1B1.3.” In turn, section lB1.3(a) provides that a sentence’s base offense level “shall be determined on the basis of [acts or foreseeable acts of others] that occurred during the commission of the offense of conviction, in preparation for that offense, or in the course of attempting to avoid detection or responsibility for that offense.” Under this section, entry of the bank is “relevant conduct” in this case because entry was an act “that occurred during the commission of the offense of conviction.” See Rutledge, 28 F.3d at 1001-02 (holding that falsely denying “relevant conduct” which a defendant could [641]*641otherwise remain silent about may be considered in denying reduction for acceptance of responsibility).

United States v. Vance, 62 F.3d 1152 (9th Cir.1995) is distinguishable. In Vance, the district court improperly considered the defendant’s refusal to talk to the probation officer (done on advice of counsel) as well as that defendant had filed a motion to suppress evidence (exercising a constitutional right) and his use of the passive voice in describing his crime. See id. at 1158-60. Vance is also distinguishable because it was not a “relevant conduct” case. See id. at 1159 (“There was no ‘relevant conduct’ issue in this case”). Moreover, the defendant in Vance did not attempt to minimize his involvement in the crime.

Accordingly, we affirm the denial of acceptance of responsibility. The district court correctly concentrated on whether Williams entered the bank. The finding that he did not accept responsibility was not clearly erroneous.

2. Breach of Plea Agreement.

A. Failure to recommend a reduction for acceptance of responsibility.

Williams next argues that the government breached its plea agreement when it failed to recommend a 3-point reduction for acceptance of responsibility. This argument was not specifically raised at the trial level. The court ordinarily will not reach claims raised for the first time on appeal.

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United States v. Williams, 18 F. App'x 637 (9th Cir. 2001).

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