U.S. v. Stewart
| Decision Date | 29 June 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. 1:00-CR-105-ALL.,1:00-CR-105-ALL. |
| Citation | 154 F.Supp.2d 1336 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. Tiffany STEWART, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Tennessee |
Gary S. Humble, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of U.S. Attorney, for Plaintiff.
David R. Barrow, Chattanooga, TN, for Defendant.
This matter came before the Court for a sentencing hearing on May 19, 2001. At the hearing Defendant Tiffany Stewart made an oral motion for downward departure from the applicable sentencing guidelines for "extraordinary acceptance of responsibility." The government offered no objection to the Court's consideration of the motion and agreed with Stewart such a departure was appropriate. After considering the unusual circumstances presented here, the Court concluded this case fell outside the "heartland" and granted Stewart's motion.
The Court has prepared this Memorandum to explain the reasoning behind its decision.
On January 25, 1999, officers of the Chattanooga, Tennessee, Police Department applied for and obtained a warrant to search the westside residence of Stewart's codefendant Kelvin Ellison.1 During the search, police officers recovered distribution quantities of marijuana and two firearms.2
Subsequently, the Chattanooga Police Department developed information that drugs were being sold out of another residence shared by Defendant Stewart, Ellison, and Stephen D. Akridge. After allegedly receiving an anonymous tip,3 one of the investigating police officers went to the residence on May 2, 2000. Upon arrival, this officer, using deception and threats, obtained invalid consent to search the apartment. The unlawful search led to the discovery and seizure of a substantial quantity of crack cocaine and several firearms. Following the search, on June 19, 2000, all three Defendants gave incriminating statements to the Chattanooga authorities. Stewart was arrested on June 20, 2000 on a federal complaint charging her, along with Akridge and Ellison, with possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute. Stewart and her two codefendants were ordered detained without bail, and Stewart has been in federal custody ever since. A federal grand jury convened on June 28, 2000 and returned an eight-count indictment against Stewart's codefendants Akridge and Ellison. The indictment charged Akridge and Ellison with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute crack cocaine and marijuana, aiding and abetting the possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, aiding and abetting the possession with intent to distribute marijuana, and aiding and abetting the possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes. Akridge was also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Stewart was charged on August 30, 2000 in a one-count Bill of Information with possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine and aiding and abetting such possession. On September 11, 2000, Akridge moved to suppress the illegally seized evidence and his subsequent statement given on June 19, 2000. Although both codefendants also had standing to object to the May 2, 2000 search, neither Stewart nor Ellison4 chose to exercise their right to do so. The government obtained a superseding indictment on September 26, 2000, charging Akridge individually with possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and being a felon in possession. United States Magistrate Judge William B. Mitchell Carter conducted the suppression hearing on October 4, 2000. Stewart testified at the suppression hearing, so she was aware such a motion had been filed.
On November 15, 2000, the government filed the plea agreement it had entered into with Stewart. The agreement had been executed on June 27, 2000. Judge Carter issued a report and recommendation ("R & R") on November 29, 2000, recommending suppression of the evidence seized during the May 2, 2000 search, as well as Akridge's subsequent statements to police on June 19, 2000. The government filed objections to the R & R on December 13, 2000, and the Court adopted Judge Carter's findings of fact and conclusions of law on January 22, 2001, suppressing the evidence. After Judge Carter issued the R & R, but before this Court's final decision on the matter, Stewart pleaded guilty on January 5, 2001. Even after learning of the Court's decision to suppress the evidence, Defendant Stewart abided by her guilty plea and made no effort either to withdraw from her plea or to suppress the illegally obtained evidence.
After hearing the arguments of counsel for both sides, the Court determined a substantial downward departure was appropriate in this case. Congress has authorized the district court to depart from the applicable sentencing guideline range when "the Court finds that there exists an aggravating or mitigating circumstance of a kind, or to a degree, not adequately taken into consideration by the Sentencing Commission in formulating the guideline ...." 18 U.S.C. § 3553(b); see also United States Sentencing Guidelines ("U.S.S.G."), Chapter 1, Part A Introduction, 4(b) (Policy Statement) Departures and § 5K2.0, Grounds for Departure (Policy Statement).
In deciding to depart from the guidelines, the Court is required to explain both the reasons compelling the decision to depart and the extent of the departure. United States v. Barajas-Nunez, 91 F.3d 826 (6th Cir.1993); United States v. Little, 61 F.3d 450, 453 (6th Cir.1995) () (quoting United States v. Thomas, 24 F.3d 829, 833 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 976, 115 S.Ct. 453, 130 L.Ed.2d 362 (1994)); United States v. Fletcher, 15 F.3d 553, 556 (6th Cir.1994) (); United States v. Feinman, 930 F.2d 495, 502 (6th Cir.1991) (same); United States v. Lassiter, 929 F.2d 267, 271 (6th Cir.1991) ().
The guidelines instruct courts to "treat each guideline as carving out a "heartland," a set of typical cases embodying the conduct that each guideline describes." U.S.S.G., Chapter 1, Part A Introduction, 4(b) (Policy Statement) Departures. When faced with a particular case that is outside the heartland, the court must decide whether the ostensible guideline applies. "When a court finds an atypical case, one to which a particular guideline linguistically applies but where conduct significantly differs from the norm, the court may consider whether a departure is warranted." Id. Some factors are prohibited from consideration, meaning they can never be used as the basis for departure.5 Other than those specifically prohibited factors, "however, the Commission does not intend to limit the kinds of factors, whether or not mentioned anywhere else in the guidelines, that could constitute grounds from departure in an unusual case." Id.; see also United States v. Coleman, 188 F.3d 354, 362 (6th Cir.1999) (en banc) ().
The drafters of the guidelines contemplated that departures would be rare: "[T]he Commission believes that despite the courts' legal freedom to depart from the guidelines, they will not do so very often." U.S.S.G., Chapter 1, Part A Introduction, 4(b) (Policy Statement) Departures. In keeping with that sentiment, other than for substantial assistance to the government, this Court rarely departs downward from the guidelines and has never departed downward on the basis advanced by Defendant in this case.
Two types of departures are recognized by the guidelines. "The first involves instances in which the guidelines provide specific guidance for departure by analogy or by other numerical or non-numerical suggestions." Id. The second type of departure is unguided:
A second type of departure will remain unguided. It may rest upon grounds referred to in Chapter Five, Part K (Departures) or on grounds not mentioned in the guidelines. While Chapter Five, Part K lists factors that the Commission believes may constitute grounds for departure, the list is not exhaustive. The Commission recognizes that there may be other grounds for departure that are not mentioned; it also believes there may be cases in which a departure outside suggested levels is warranted. In its view, however, such cases will be highly infrequent.
To make a permissible departure, the Court must first find grounds for a departure actually exist, and then the Court must determine the degree of or range for departure. See United States v. Joan, 883 F.2d 491, 494 (6th Cir.1989). "Before the district court may grant a downward departure, it `must, after considering the "structure and theory of both relevant individual guidelines and the Guidelines taken as a whole," decide whether it is sufficient to take the case out of the Guideline[s'] heartland."' United States v. Saucedo, 226 F.3d 782, 791 (6th Cir.2000) (citations omitted) (emphasis in original). The United States Supreme Court has suggested four factors the court should take into account when considering whether departure is warranted in any given case:
1) What features of this case, potentially, take it outside the Guidelines' "heartland" and make of it a special, or unusual, case? 2) Has the Commission forbidden departures based on those features? 3) If not, has the...
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