U.S. v. Medina

• Decision Date: 23 January 1996
• Docket Number: No. 173,D,173
• Citation: 74 F.3d 413
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Roberto MEDINA, Defendant-Appellant, Daniel Delgado, also known as Pepa and Louie Villanueva, also known as Tito, Defendants. ocket 95-1131.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

Page 413

74 F.3d 413

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Roberto MEDINA, Defendant-Appellant Daniel Delgado, also known as Pepa and Louie Villanueva also known as Tito, Defendants.

No. 173, Docket 95-1131.

United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit.

Argued Dec. 22, 1995.

Decided Jan. 23, 1996.

Guy Petrillo, Assistant United States Attorney (Mary Jo White, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York), New York City, for Appellee United States of America.

Sanford M. Katz, Katz & Weinstein, New York City, for Defendant-Appellant Roberto Medina.

Before: JACOBS, CALABRESI, Circuit Judges and SPATT, District Judge. ^*

PER CURIAM:

Defendant-appellant Roberto Medina appeals from a judgment entered on February 24, 1995, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Mukasey, J.) convicting him, following a jury trial, of attempting and conspiring to commit a robbery that would affect interstate commerce in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1951. The district court determined that it was reasonably foreseeable to Medina that his co-conspirators would carry and brandish firearms during the crime, and for that reason adjusted Medina's base offense level upward by five levels under U.S.S.G. Secs. 2B3.1(b)(2)(C) and 1B1.3(a)(1)(B). Medina claims that (a) the district court improperly adjusted his offense level upward under U.S.S.G. Sec. 2B3.1 based on a clearly erroneous factual finding; and (b) the district court should have adjusted his offense level downward under U.S.S.G. Sec. 2X1.1 because the crime was impossible to complete.

For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the sentence.

BACKGROUND

On May 13, 1993, Roberto Medina was convicted by a jury of attempting and conspiring to rob the payroll of the Foundation Construction Company in Brooklyn, New York, in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1951. Medina was also convicted of aiding and abetting a co-defendant in carrying a firearm during the robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 924(c). The circumstances giving rise to Medina's conviction are discussed at length in United States v. Medina, 32 F.3d 40, 42-43 (2d Cir.1994). Familiarity with that opinion is assumed. On July 26, 1993, Medina was sentenced to 46 months imprisonment on the attempted robbery conviction and to a consecutive term of 60 months on the aiding and abetting conviction. On August 10, 1994, this Court affirmed the attempted robbery conviction but reversed the aiding and abetting conviction on the ground that Medina did not "perform[ ] some act that directly facilitated or encouraged the use or carrying of a firearm." Id. at 45. By order dated January 9, 1995, this Court amended the mandate to authorize the district court to resentence Medina.

On February 17, 1995, the district court resentenced Medina on the attempt and conspiracy conviction in accordance with section 2B3.1 of the Sentencing Guidelines--the provision for the underlying substantive crime of robbery. The base offense level under that section is 20. U.S.S.G. Sec. 2B3.1(a). Where a firearm is "brandished, displayed, or possessed," that base offense level is enhanced by five levels. Id. Sec. 2B3.1(b)(2)(C). Under section 1B1.3(a)(1)(B), all "reasonably foreseeable acts and omissions of others" in furtherance of a conspiracy may be taken into account in determining a sentence. Based on Approximately three weeks before that sentencing hearing, this Court decided United States v. Amato, 46 F.3d 1255 (2d Cir.1995), which holds that, as a consequence of an amendment to the Guidelines effective in 1993, the offense level for inchoate offenses under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1951 is to be determined under section 2X1.1 of the Guidelines. Id. at 1261. Amato further holds that a defendant (such as Medina) whose offense was committed prior to the effective date of the 1993 Guidelines may elect to be sentenced under the pre-1993 Guidelines (which applied section 2B3.1) if his sentence would be lower under that section than under section 2X1.1. Id. at 1262. Neither side brought Amato to the court's attention prior to the February 17, 1995 sentencing proceeding. By a letter to the court dated July 19, 1995, the parties stipulated to a withdrawal of Medina's pending appeal (without prejudice to reinstatement) in order to hold an additional sentencing proceeding in view of Amato.

(i) the nature of the planned robbery, (ii) Medina's proffer of a firearm to a co-conspirator on the day of the attempted robbery and (iii) his co-conspirator's possession of firearms during the attempted crime, the district court determined that it was reasonably foreseeable to Medina that his co-conspirators would brandish, display or possess firearms during the crime. Accordingly, the district court determined Medina's adjusted base level to be 27, consisting of the base offense level of 20; an additional five levels under U.S.S.G. Sec. 2B3.1(b)(2)(C); and an additional two levels under U.S.S.G. Sec. 3B1.1(c) to reflect Medina's role as the leader of the robbery enterprise. The district court sentenced Medina to a prison term of 78 months, the lowest term in the applicable Guideline range.

On July 21, 1995, the district court held the additional sentencing proceeding to determine whether Medina's sentencing range would be lower under section 2X1.1. Under that section, the base offense level is the

base offense level from the guideline for the substantive offense, plus any adjustments from such guideline for any intended offense conduct that can be established with reasonable certainty.

U.S.S.G. Sec. 2X1.1(a). In Medina's case, section 2X1.1 required the district court to apply section 2B3.1 (the relevant provision for the underlying substantive offense), plus any adjustments from that section that could be established with reasonable certainty. Accordingly, Medina's base offense level was 20 plus a five-level enhancement under section 2B3.1(b)(2)(C) because it was reasonably certain that Medina's co-conspirators would use weapons; a one-level enhancement under section 2B3.1(b)(6)(B) because Medina and his co-conspirators planned to steal more than $10,000; and a two-level enhancement under section 3B1.1(c) for leading the conspiracy. This yielded an offense level of 28.

The court next considered whether Medina was entitled to a three-level decrease authorized by section 2X1.1(b)(2). That section provides for such a decrease in a conspiracy offense

unless the defendant or a co-conspirator completed all the acts the conspirators believed necessary on their part for the successful completion of the substantive offense or the circumstances demonstrate that the conspirators were about to complete all such acts but for apprehension or interruption by some similar event beyond their control.

U.S.S.G. Sec. 2X1.1(b)(2) (emphasis added). The court found that, under the circumstances, the conspirators were about to complete all such acts but for the intervention of the police, and therefore held that Medina was not entitled to a three-level decrease. Since Medina's total offense level of 28 under section 2X1.1 was higher than his offense level of 27 under section 2B3.1, the court ordered that the original 78 month sentence imposed under section 2B3.1 be maintained.

Medina has since reinstated his notice of appeal (which was timely as originally filed on February 24, 1995), and therefore this court has appellate jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291.

DISCUSSION

The factual findings of a sentencing court that bear upon reasonable foreseeability are reviewed by this Court for clear error. United States v. Brumby, 23 F.3d 47, 50 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 250, 130 L.Ed.2d 171 (1994); United States v. Skowronski, 968 F.2d 242, 249 (2d Cir.1992). Where a sentencing court's application of the Guidelines "approaches a purely legal question," we employ a de novo standard of review. Brumby, 23 F.3d at 49; see also United States v. James, 998 F.2d 74, 82 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 114 S.Ct. 415, 126 L.Ed.2d 362 (1993).

On appeal, Medina argues that the district court's application of both section 2B3.1 and section 2X1.1 was in error. We will address each of these contentions separately.

A. Section 2B3.1.

The district court found that it was reasonably foreseeable to Medina that his co-conspirators would possess or brandish weapons in the commission of the crime. Medina argues that the district court was precluded from making this finding, and points to this Court's statements in United States v. Medina that (a) Medina did not "perform[ ] some act that directly facilitated or encouraged the use or carrying of a firearm," 32 F.3d at 45; and (b) "[t]here is no evidence that Medina warned his coconspirators that the intended victims would be armed, or that he counseled the brandishing of a firearm." Id. at 46. On this ground, Medina urges that the district court improperly enhanced his sentence by five levels under section 2B3.1(b)(2)(C).

Medina's argument is unpersuasive for two reasons. First, our prior decision in this case determined only that Medina did not perform an act that would support aiding and abetting liability under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 924(c). Id. at 45 ("Medina cannot be convicted as an aider and abettor unless he 'consciously assisted the commission of the specific crime in some active way.' ") (quoting United States v. Dickerson, 508 F.2d 1216, 1218 (2d Cir.1975)). At the sentencing phase, the inquiry is different. At sentencing, the defendant is responsible if an act performed in furtherance of a conspiracy by a co-conspirator was "reasonably foreseeable," regardless of whether the defendant acted to promote it or facilitate it. U.S.S.G. Sec. 1B1.3(a)(1)(B); see also id. Sec. 1B1.3, Application Note 1 ("The principles and limits of sentencing accountability under this guideline are not always the same as the principles and limits of criminal liability."). Thus a defendant may avoid...