U.S. v. Snyder

• Decision Date: 03 October 2000
• Docket Number: Nos. 00-1043,00-1051,s. 00-1043
• Parties: (1st Cir. 2000) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Appellee, v. ERIC GRAY SNYDER, Defendant, Appellant. . Heard
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

Page 42

235 F.3d 42 (1st Cir. 2000)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Appellee, v. ERIC GRAY SNYDER, Defendant, Appellant.

Nos. 00-1043, 00-1051.

United States Court of Appeals, For the First Circuit.

Heard Oct. 3, 2000.

Decided December 21, 2000.

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS. Hon. William G. Young, U.S. District Judge. [Copyrighted Material Omitted]

Victoria L. Nadel for appellant.

James F. Lang, Assistant United States Attorney, with whom Donald K. Stern, United States Attorney, was on brief, for appellee.

Before Boudin, Circuit Judge, Cyr, Senior Circuit Judge, and Lynch, Circuit Judge.

LYNCH, Circuit Judge.

In this unusual case, a trial judge sua sponte recused himself from sentencing because he found himself "unwilling, as a matter of conscience" to apply the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines as interpreted by this court. The defendant, who might have otherwise benefitted from the judge's lenient views, claims that the judge had a duty to sit, that his decision to recuse himself was therefore in error, and that the case should be remanded back to the judge for resentencing. In the alternative, the defendant objects to the sentence imposed upon him by a different judge to whom his case was reassigned, as well as that judge's decision to deny his motion for a new trial. The primary question in the case pits a judge's duty to sit, if there is no reason to recuse, against his duty not to sit, if a reasonable person could doubt his impartiality. We uphold the trial judge's decision to recuse himself and reject the defendant's other attacks.

I. BACKGROUND

Eric Snyder was convicted after a jury trial of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). At sentencing, the trial judge, Judge Harrington, found the defendant to be an armed career criminal under 18 U.S.C. § 924(e) and calculated the applicable guideline range at 235 to 293 months. However, after expressing concern during the sentencing hearing that the range was too harsh, Judge Harrington chose to depart downward, explaining his decision in a published memorandum. See United States v. Snyder, 954 F. Supp. 19, 22 (D. Mass. 1997) (hereinafter "Snyder I"). In his view, a downward departure was justified because had Snyder been prosecuted and convicted under state law, he would have been sentenced to a far shorter prison term than that prescribed by the federal Sentencing Guidelines. Such sentencing disparity, Judge Harrington argued, effectively grants federal prosecutors "unbridled power" to single out "local" offenders for disparately long federal sentences. Accordingly, Judge Harrington departed downward in order to bring Snyder's sentence closer to the sentence he would have received in state court, sentencing Snyder to 180 months, the statutory minimum. Id. On appeal, this court vacated the sentence, holding that a disparity between federal and state sentences for the same offense is not a legitimate ground for departure. We remanded the case for resentencing. See United States v. Snyder, 136 F.3d 65, 70 (1st Cir. 1998) ("Snyder II").

Following the remand, Judge Harrington initially scheduled resentencing for April 27, 1998. Over the next eight months, though, he granted Snyder a series of continuances while Snyder awaited a decision from the Boston Municipal Court regarding whether one of his prior convictions was unconstitutional. On December 9, 1998, after successfully vacating the prior conviction, Snyder moved for a new trial in this case, arguing that with the conviction eliminated he could no longer be considered to have been a "felon" for purposes of § 922(g)(1) at the time he was caught in possession of a firearm.

On December 23, 1998, Judge Harrington held a hearing in which he considered both Snyder's resentencing and his motion for a new trial. During the hearing, the judge made clear that he harbored "deep problems of conscience over this case" and that he was frustrated by the government's unwillingness to concede that Snyder did not deserve the sentence required by the Guidelines. The hearing produced no resolution as Judge Harrington again granted a continuance, this time to allow Snyder to submit his own version of events for inclusion in the presentence report.

On September 22, 1999, a year and a half after our remand in Snyder II, Judge Harrington abruptly recused himself from the case sua sponte. The written order stated that he was "unwilling, as a matter of conscience, to impose the draconian sentence required by the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit," citing Snyder I as setting forth the reasons underlying his conscientious objection. Snyder moved for reconsideration of the recusal order, which motion Judge Harrington denied by margin endorsement. Snyder then appealed the denial.

While the appeal was pending, Snyder's case was reassigned to Chief Judge Young, who proceeded to hold a sentencing hearing on October 14, 1999. At the hearing, Judge Young denied a motion by Snyder for further continuance pending this court's decision on Judge Harrington's recusal. He then heard Snyder argue various grounds for a downward departure. Rejecting all of those grounds, Judge Young sentenced Snyder to 264 months, a sentence at the midpoint of the applicable guideline range. On March 6, 2000, Judge Young denied Snyder's motion for a new trial. Snyder timely appealed his sentence and the denial of the new trial motion. We now consider this appeal and the appeal of Judge Harrington's recusal order.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Recusal

Did Judge Harrington commit reversible error in recusing himself from the case? Snyder claims that Judge Harrington lacked any valid authority for recusing himself, and that in the absence of such authority the judge had a duty to continue presiding. As for what prejudice Snyder suffered from the recusal, he claims that he was deprived of the opportunity to be sentenced by a judge intimately familiar with the facts of his case. Had the sentencing judge fully grasped these supposedly peculiar facts, Snyder believes, he would have granted Snyder a downward departure or, at the very least, would have sentenced Snyder at the low end, rather than the midpoint, of the applicable guideline range. For its part, the government argues that Judge Harrington's decision to recuse himself was entirely appropriate under the circumstances: the judge had made many statements of record expressing hostility toward the government's case, and for some 18 months he had refused to sentence Snyder as he was required to do on remand. Such conduct, the government argues, gave rise to an objective appearance of partiality, warranting recusal.

Recusal of federal judges is governed by 28 U.S.C. § 455, subsection (a) of which is at issue here. That subsection provides that "[a]ny justice, judge, or magistrate of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned." The reach of the subsection is broad. It forbids partiality whether grounded in an "interest or relationship" or a "bias or prejudice"; and it forbids not only the reality of partiality but its objective appearance as well. Liteky v. United States, 510 U.S. 540, 548 (1994). As the Supreme Court has pithily characterized the subsection: "Quite simply and quite universally, recusal [i]s required whenever 'impartiality might reasonably be questioned.'" Id. (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 455(a)).

Nevertheless, judges are not to recuse themselves lightly under § 455(a). See H.R. Rep. No. 93-1453, at 5 (1974), reprinted in 1974 U.S.C.C.A.N. 6351, 6355 ("[Section 455(a)] should not be used by judges to avoid sitting on difficult or controversial cases."). As Snyder contends an erroneous recusal may be prejudicial in some circumstances. See United States v. Arache, 946 F.2d 129, 140 (1st Cir. 1991) (finding that "there appears to be some force" to argument that recusal may prejudice defendant where recusing judge has become familiar enough with facts of case to question reliability of key testimony). In any event, the unnecessary transfer of a case from one judge to another is inherently inefficient and delays the administration of justice. See Camacho v. Autoridad de Telefonos de Puerto Rico, 868 F.2d 482, 491 (1st Cir. 1989) (noting that the judicial system would be "paralyzed" were standards for recusal too low). For these reasons, "[a] trial judge must hear cases unless [there is] some reasonable factual basis to doubt the impartiality or fairness of the tribunal." Blizard v. Frechette, 601 F.2d 1217, 1221 (1st Cir. 1979). Thus, under § 455(a) a judge has a duty to recuse himself if his impartiality can reasonably be questioned; but otherwise, he has a duty to sit.¹

Most appeals arising under § 455(a) are brought after the trial judge has refused to recuse himself on motion of a party. See, e.g., In re United States, 158 F.3d 26, 27 (1st Cir. 1998); Blizard, 601 F.2d at 1219.² In such cases we have applied an abuse of discretion standard. As we stated in In re United States:

[A] decision whether to disqualify [is] in the first instance committed to the district judge. And, since in many cases reasonable deciders may disagree, the district judge is allowed a range of discretion. The appellate court, therefore, must ask itself not whether it would have decided as did the trial court, but whether that decision cannot be defended as a rational conclusion supported by [a] reasonable reading of the record.

158 F.3d at 30 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). Furthermore, we have recognized that the duty to recuse and the duty to sit do not exert equal pull; in close cases, "doubts ordinarily ought to be resolved in favor of recusal." Id. No one suggests that different principles of review apply here, where a judge has recused himself sua sponte.³ Hence, our review in this case, as in our prior cases, is...