U.S. v. Patterson, 92-6767

• Decision Date: 01 March 1994
• Docket Number: No. 92-6767,92-6767
• Citation: 15 F.3d 169
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Darwyn E. PATTERSON, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 169

15 F.3d 169

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Darwyn E. PATTERSON, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 92-6767.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

March 1, 1994.

Thomas Haas, Mobile, AL, for defendant-appellant.

Maria F. Stieber, Greg Brodenkircher, Asst. U.S. Attys., Mobile, AL, for plaintiff-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama.

Before KRAVITCH, COX, Circuit Judges, and HENDERSON, Senior Circuit Judge.

KRAVITCH, Circuit Judge:

Appellant, Darwyn Patterson, pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(a), and to possession of a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking offense, in violation of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 924(c)(1). Patterson received a downward departure in his sentence based upon the court's finding that he had provided substantial assistance to the government. However, the court denied Patterson's motion for further downward departure, in which Patterson argued that he suffered from a mental impairment which had contributed to the commission of the offense. Patterson appeals his sentence on the ground that the district court misconstrued the applicable sentencing guideline in refusing to grant an additional downward departure for a mental impairment pursuant to U.S.S.G. Sec. 5K2.13. Because we determine that the district court correctly understood the scope of its authority to grant downward departure, we conclude that this court does not have jurisdiction to hear Patterson's appeal.

I.

At sentencing, Patterson requested a downward departure based on U.S.S.G. Sec. 5K2.13, ¹ claiming that he suffered from a reduced mental capacity contributing to the commission of the offenses for which he was convicted. In its oral response to Patterson's motion for downward departure, the court stated:

[I]t is not necessary for the court to determine whether or not the defendant was, in fact, living under a diminished mental capacity at the time he committed these crimes, although the court has great doubt as to whether or not he was. The court denies downward departure for that reason because under 5K2.13 of the guidelines, grounds for departure, there not only must be a diminished capacity, but it must be a diminished capacity which contributed to the offense. And it also must be the commission of a crime which does not indicate a need for incarceration to protect the public.... Also, I find that any reduced mental capacity which the defendant may have been suffering under at the time of the commission of the offense did not contribute to the commission of the offense. ²

In its written statement of reasons for imposing the sentence, the court further found that "not only must there be diminished capacity, but a diminished capacity that caused the offense. The Court does not feel that diminished capacity caused the defendant to participate in the offense, therefore, the motion is denied." ³ Patterson contends that the court's misapprehension of the applicable sentencing guideline is revealed in the court's written declaration that the defendant's diminished capacity must have caused--rather than contributed to--the commission of the offense. Patterson maintains that this statement suggests that the court did not fully comprehend its own authority to depart downward.

II.

The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3551 et seq., prohibits a defendant from appealing a sentencing judge's refusal to make a downward departure from the guideline sentencing range. U.S. v. Fossett, 881 F.2d 976 (11th Cir.1989). This court has reasoned that "[t]o permit a defendant to appeal a sentence which falls below the guideline range would make meaningless the specificity of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3742, which permits a defendant to raise on appeal [only] the district court's upward departure from the guideline range." U.S. v. Wright, 895 F.2d 718, 721 (11th Cir.1990). Nonetheless, review is available for a sentencing challenge based upon the district court's belief that it had no authority to depart from the sentencing guideline range. U.S. v. Fairman, 947 F.2d 1479 (11th Cir.1991), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 1503, 117 L.Ed.2d 642 (1992). Th...