United States v. Xavier Jennette

498 F. App'x 323
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
DecidedDecember 6, 2012
Docket11-4554
StatusUnpublished

This text of 498 F. App'x 323 (United States v. Xavier Jennette) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fourth 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. Xavier Jennette, 498 F. App'x 323 (4th Cir. 2012).

Opinion

Affirmed by unpublished PER CURIAM opinion.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

PER CURIAM:

In 2006, a jury convicted Xavier Jen-nette of identity theft, wire fraud, and several related offenses, and the district court sentenced him to 121 months in prison. Jennette appealed, and we vacated his sentence and remanded for resentencing. On remand, the district court again imposed a sentence of 121 months. Jennette now appeals this second sentence. Jen-nette contends that a court reporter’s delay in producing a transcript that he needed for his first appeal denied his right to due process. He also contends that the district court abused its discretion at re-sentencing by refusing to consider certain evidence that he wanted to offer. Finally, he contends that the district court committed procedural error by misapplying the Sentencing Guidelines and failing to consider the factors listed in 18 U.S.C. § 8553(a). Finding no merit in these contentions, we affirm.

I.

Jennette’s first appeal proceeded slowly because the court reporter responsible for producing transcripts of the trial and sentencing produced them in piecemeal fashion and did not produce them in total until 16 months after the deadline we had imposed. Once the transcripts were produced and the appeal proceeded, we vacated the sentence and remanded, finding that the district court had abused its discretion by denying a motion from Jen-nette’s attorney to withdraw. United States v. Jennette, 387 Fed.Appx. 303 (4th Cir.2010).

At the resentencing, Jennette called Anthony Wallace, a co-conspirator who had testified against him at trial. After trial, Wallace had signed an affidavit recanting his trial testimony and' stating that Jennette was innocent. However, Wallace later told Jennette’s counsel that the affidavit was false, essentially recanting his recantation. Still, Jennette called Wallace to testify at the resentencing, 1 but Wallace refused to do so, asserting his Fifth Amendment rights in response to each question he was asked. Jennette *325 then unsuccessfully sought to introduce evidence that Wallace’s trial testimony implicating Jennette was false and his post-trial affidavit exonerating Jennette was true. Eventually, because the district court decided that Wallace was not credible, it disregarded all of his testimony.

The district court then again sentenced Jennette to 121 months. The new sentence reflected the district court’s application of the Sentencing Guidelines, including enhancements for Jennette’s leadership role in criminal activity involving five or more individuals, U.S.S.G. § 3Bl.l(a); abusing a position of trust, U.S.S.G. § 3B1.3; and obstructing justice. U.S.S.G. § 3C1.1. Additionally, the new sentence reflected an upward departure based upon the district court’s finding that the offense level determined by the Guidelines substantially underestimated the seriousness of. the offense. U.S.S.G. § 2B1.1, Application Notes 19. The district court also noted that “in the alternative, the Court would impose the exact same sentence as a variance under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).” S.J.A. 1349.

II.

We first address Jennette’s contention that the delay in transcript production during his first appeal denied him due process. We review claims of due process violations de novo. United States v. Shealey, 641 F.3d 627, 633 (4th Cir.2011).

In determining whether delay in processing an appeal denies a criminal defendant due process, we consider the “[Fjength of delay, the reason for the delay, the defendant’s assertion of his right, and prejudice to the defendant.” United States v. Johnson, 732 F.2d 379, 381 (4th Cir.1984) (quoting Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 530, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972)). Here, we consider the fourth factor, prejudice, to be dispositive because Jennette suffered none. We first note that, because Jennette is serving a sentence for a conviction that is not being appealed, and because we affirm the totality of the sentence imposed by the district court-the same sentence the district court imposed in the first sentencing-the delay in obtaining transcripts did not add to Jennette's prison sentence. Jennette also claims that Wallace may not have recanted his post-trial affidavit had the appellate process run faster and the resen-tencing occurred earlier. However, there is nothing in the record that allows a reasonable inference that it was the passage of time, rather than some other factor, which motivated Wallace to recant his affidavit. Jennette's assertion otherwise is mere speculation, which is insufficient to provide a factual basis for a claim of prejudice.

Moreover, we reject Jennette’s assertion that the decision of a witness to assert his Fifth Amendment rights is the type of prejudice which has been found to support a due process claim. The Supreme Court has observed that a delay may cause prejudice if a witness dies or disappears during the delay or is unable to recall accurately the events of the distant past. Barker, 407 U.S. at 532, 92 S.Ct. 2182. Here, Wallace was available to testify at the resentencing, and there is no indication that his memory was impaired; he simply chose to assert his Fifth Amendment rights. Therefore, Jennette was not prejudiced in a way that would support a due process claim.

III.

We next address Jennette’s contention that the district court erred by refusing to admit evidence that he wanted to offer for the purpose of showing which of Wallace’s conflicting stories was true. We review this evidentiary ruling for abuse of *326 discretion. United States v. Johnson, 617 F.3d 286, 292 (4th Cir.2010).

At resentencing, the district court was aware of Wallace’s trial testimony, his affidavit recanting that testimony, and his recantation of that recantation. The district court properly considered Wallace’s credibility and then determined that his credibility was so lacking that the court would not consider any of Wallace’s testimony. See United States v. McKenzie-Gude, 671 F.3d 452, 463 (4th Cir.2011) (noting the great deference afforded the district court’s credibility determinations at sentencing). Thus, the district court did not abuse its discretion by refusing to rely on Wallace or any evidence offered to support or refute any version of Wallace’s testimony, or to prolong the hearing to allow the presentation of any other evidence concerning Wallace’s completely discounted testimony.

IV.

We turn next to Jennette’s challenges to the district court’s application of the Sentencing Guidelines and 18 U.S.C.

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Related

Barker v. Wingo
407 U.S. 514 (Supreme Court, 1972)
Gall v. United States
552 U.S. 38 (Supreme Court, 2007)
United States v. Johnson
617 F.3d 286 (Fourth Circuit, 2010)
United States v. Savillon-Matute
636 F.3d 119 (Fourth Circuit, 2011)
United States v. Shealey
641 F.3d 627 (Fourth Circuit, 2011)
United States v. William Alton Johnson
732 F.2d 379 (Fourth Circuit, 1984)
United States v. McKenzie-Gude
671 F.3d 452 (Fourth Circuit, 2011)
United States v. Artez Lamont Johnson
445 F.3d 339 (Fourth Circuit, 2006)
United States v. Carter
564 F.3d 325 (Fourth Circuit, 2009)
United States v. Jennette
387 F. App'x 303 (Third Circuit, 2010)

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Bluebook (online)
498 F. App'x 323, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-xavier-jennette-ca4-2012.