U.S. v. Minutoli

• Decision Date: 08 July 2004
• Docket Number: No. 02-3108.,02-3108.
• Citation: 374 F.3d 236
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America v. Lisa Ann MINUTOLI, Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

374 F.3d 236

UNITED STATES of America v. Lisa Ann MINUTOLI, Appellant.

No. 02-3108.

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.

Argued February 25, 2004.

Filed July 8, 2004.

Stanton D. Levenson, (Argued), Pittsburgh, PA, for Appellant.

Mary Beth Buchanan, United States Attorney, Office of the United States Attorney, Bonnie R. Schlueter, Michael L. Ivory, Kelly R. Labby, (Argued), Pittsburgh, PA, for Appellee.

Before RENDELL, BARRY, and FISHER, Circuit Judges.

BARRY, Circuit Judge.

We are called upon to decide whether we have jurisdiction to review a district court's discretionary refusal to downward depart from the applicable Sentencing Guideline range when that refusal is based in whole or in part on an alleged mistake of fact. The well-established precedent of this Court mandates the answer to this question, and the answer is a ringing "no."

I. INTRODUCTION

On August 29, 2001, a federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment against Lisa Ann Minutoli ("Minutoli"). Count One charged Minutoli with possession with intent to distribute a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), in the form of "Ecstasy" tablets, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(C); and Count Two charged unlawful importation into the United States of said tablets, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 952(a) and 960(b)(3). Minutoli pled guilty to Count Two, and Count One was subsequently dismissed.

It was not disputed that under the United States Sentencing Guidelines (USSG), Minutoli's base offense level was 29 and her criminal history category was I, resulting in a range of 87-108 months' imprisonment. Prior to sentencing, however, Minutoli moved for a downward departure, based on reduced mental capacity (USSG § 5K2.13) and coercion and duress (USSG § 5K2.12), and for a two-level reduction in her offense level as a minor participant. (USSG § 3B1.2(b)). The District Court denied these requests and, on July 25, 2002, sentenced Minutoli to 87 months' imprisonment, to be followed by three years' supervised release. In denying the downward departure, the District Court stated, in part:

[W]hile I recognize my ability to depart under 5K2.12, without threat of physical injury resulting from unlawful actions of a third party, which I don't believe was in the testimony, or substantial damage to property resulting from unlawful action of a third party, the coercion and duress does not rise to the level that warrants departure. (emphasis added).

In denying her request for an adjustment for minor role, the District Court stated:

My understanding of this case and what I believe has been demonstrated by the evidence is that the defendant was not just a mere, to use an adjective, courier. Her importance to the success of the venture was vital.

* * * * * *

But, as I indicated, I do not believe, based on the evidence, that you were a minor participant because of your importance, your knowledge of these — the nature and scope of the enterprise.

Minutoli raises two issues on appeal. First, she contends that the District Court made a factual error in concluding that the testimony at the sentencing hearing did not support a finding of physical threats and, thus, she was wrongly denied a downward departure under § 5K2.12. Second, she contends that as a "mere" drug courier, she was entitled to a downward adjustment for her minor role in the offense.¹ We will affirm the judgment and sentence.

II. BACKGROUND

Sometime in the spring of 2001, Minutoli, a long-time drug user, was recruited as a drug courier by a woman named Christine Segetti, whom she had met through her personal drug dealer. Segetti offered Minutoli $20,000, in return for which she traveled from Los Angeles to Paris and then to Amsterdam, where she was given Ecstacy tablets by a man named Joseph, and returned with the drugs to New York City.² While in New York City, she gave the drugs, minus a small portion for herself, to one Thomas-Elan. After spending about a week-and-a-half with Thomas-Elan and Segetti, she returned to Los Angeles, where she met a man she knew as David, but whose name was, in fact, Elly, and with whom she carried on a romantic relationship for four months.

Soon after they met, David informed Minutoli that the organization with which they were affiliated was an international drug ring and that he planned to break away and begin his own smuggling operation. Thus, in June 2001, David and Minutoli traveled to Tijuana, Mexico, where they met with persons from several countries and planned the operation, although Minutoli disclaimed any role in the planning. After returning from Tijuana, David told Minutoli that she was to go to Germany and transport drugs back to the United States. Minutoli did not want to make the trip and argued with David about it, angering him to the point that he threw a car stereo at her. When David threatened to kill her, she agreed to go. The night before she left, and to assure that she would do what she had agreed to do, David placed his gun on top of a bedroom dresser before getting into bed with her. David was often verbally abusive to her, physically threatened her, and told her that he had killed people before. Minutoli felt trapped by him both physically and financially, in part because he continuously provided drugs to her, escalating her addiction. In sum, she claimed, he "broke" her.³

On July 24, 2001, David drove Minutoli to the Los Angeles airport and warned her that people would be watching her while she was in Germany. Upon her arrival in Germany, she checked into a hotel and informed her contact in Amsterdam, a man named Daniel, of her location. Daniel provided her with money for her hotel and periodically stopped by to check on her. Additionally, David phoned her nearly every day. The day before her return to the United States, Daniel provided her with a suitcase for the trip.

Upon her arrival at the Pittsburgh International Airport, Minutoli was questioned and selected for examination by a United States Customs Inspector. When asked to open the suitcase Daniel had provided to her, she claimed that she had forgotten the combination to the lock. After obtaining verbal permission, the Inspector pried the suitcase open. In plain view lay numerous plastic bags containing white tablets. These tablets, numbering 69,805, were MDMA or "Ecstasy," with an estimated street value of between $1,396,100 and $2,094,150. Found in Minutoli's other bags were a business diary and a spiral-bound notebook. The business diary contained a list of controlled substances with monetary amounts next to them, and the spiral-bound notebook contained several pages of individuals' names with monetary amounts next to them. The notebook list appeared to be a record of drug debts.

III. DISCUSSION

It is well-established in this Court that we lack jurisdiction to review the merits of a district court's discretionary decision to refuse a downward departure under the Sentencing Guidelines once we determine that the district court properly understood its authority to grant a departure:

If we determine the district court was aware of its authority to depart from the Guidelines, and chose not to, we are without power to inquire further into the merits of its refusal to grant [the defendant's] request. See United States v. Denardi, 892 F.2d 269, 272 (3d Cir.1989). Stated differently, we have jurisdiction to decide whether a sentencing court erred legally when not making a requested discretionary downward departure, but we cannot hear a challenge to the merits of a sentencing court's discretionary decision not to depart downward from the Guidelines. Id.

United States v. Georgiadis, 933 F.2d 1219, 1222 (3d Cir.1991); see also, e.g., United States v. Gori, 324 F.3d 234, 239 (3d Cir.2003); United States v. Powell, 269 F.3d 175, 178-80 (3d Cir.2001); United States v. Stevens, 223 F.3d 239, 247-48 (3d Cir.2000); United States v. Evans, 49 F.3d 109, 111 (3d Cir.1995); United States v. Mummert, 34 F.3d 201, 205 (3d Cir.1994); United States v. Gaskill, 991 F.2d 82, 84 (3d Cir.1993); United States v. Love, 985 F.2d 732, 734, n. 3 (3d Cir.1993); United States v. Higgins, 967 F.2d 841, 844 (3d Cir.1992).⁴ The Courts of Appeals, virtually unanimously, accept this general rule whether that rule be framed in jurisdictional terms, as our cases frame it, or in terms of unfettered discretion where there has not been an incorrect application of the Guidelines within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 3742.

The District Court understood its authority to depart, and there was nothing complicated or ambiguous about the Court's statement: "I recognize my ability to depart." We could say, and it would not be the least bit facile to do so, that the District Court did precisely what we have encouraged district courts to do, i.e. indicate an awareness of the ability to depart, and that, therefore, under our well-established precedent, we lack jurisdiction to review the discretionary denial of the departure.⁵ Game, set, and match.

But, says the dissent, the District Court did not mean what it said. Rather, the argument goes, the Court was being disingenuous because it "was actually concluding" (emphasis added) "that it lacked the authority to [depart] based on the facts of this case." Accordingly, the dissent continues, "the sentence imposed `resulted from' an incorrect application of the Guidelines, and we can review it pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a)(2)." Dissent at 1. Indeed, concludes the dissent, "we can, and should" assume jurisdiction over all appeals in which it is alleged that the District Court made a clearly erroneous factual determination in the course of denying a discretionary downward departure, for we must assure that the District Court accurately understood and correctly determined the facts of the case. Completing the circle, an erroneous factual finding is an incorrect application of the guidelines that can...