U.S. v. Thomas, 92-3120

• Decision Date: 13 December 1993
• Docket Number: No. 92-3120,92-3120
• Citation: 11 F.3d 732
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Mattie Lou THOMAS, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

Page 732

11 F.3d 732

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Mattie Lou THOMAS, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 92-3120.

United States Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit.

Argued July 8, 1993.

Decided Dec. 13, 1993.

Barry R. Elden, Asst. U.S. Atty., Crim. Receiving, Appellate Div., Joseph D. Heyd (argued), Office of U.S. Atty., Chicago, IL, for U.S.

Jeffrey B. Steinback, Leonard Goodman (argued), Genson, Steinback, Gillespie & Martin, Chicago, IL, for Mattie Lou Thomas.

Before CUDAHY and KANNE, Circuit Judges, and ESCHBACH, Senior Circuit Judge.

KANNE, Circuit Judge.

Mattie Lou Thomas pleaded guilty to possessing four kilograms of heroin, an offense that would normally carry a ten-year mandatory minimum sentence. See 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841. The district court departed from this statutory minimum to reflect Thomas' substantial assistance to the government, but it denied a departure to account for her unusual family circumstances. We reject Thomas' claim that the departure was too paltry.

I.

Thomas' sentence fell under 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(b)(1)(A), which mandates a term of ten-years imprisonment for any crime involving more than one kilogram of heroin (the "statutory minimum"). Federal statutes provide only one means for departing from a statutory minimum:

Limited authority to impose a sentence below a statutory minimum--Upon motion of the Government, the court shall have the authority to impose a sentence below a level established by statute as minimum sentence so as to reflect a defendant's substantial assistance in the investigation or prosecution of another person who has committed an offense. Such sentence shall be imposed in accordance with the guidelines and policy statements issued by the Sentencing Commission pursuant to section 994 of title 28, United States Code.

18 U.S.C. Sec. 3553(e).

Few provisions of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines discuss departures from statutory minimum penalties, although many provisions discuss departures from Guideline sentencing ranges. The provisions mentioning only the Guidelines include Sec. 5H1.6, which allows limited departures from the "applicable guidelines range" to account for family circumstances. See United States v. Johnson, 964 F.2d 124, 129 (2d Cir.1992); United States v. Headley, 923 F.2d 1079, 1082 (3d Cir.1991). Section 5K1.1 is one of the only Guideline provisions mentioning departures from statutory minimum sentences. The section itself mirrors Sec. 3553(e), by allowing departures "[u]pon motion of the government stating that the defendant has provided substantial assistance in the investigation or prosecution of another person who has committed an offense." The comments following Sec. 5K1.1 state that the section applies both to departures from the applicable Guideline range and to departures from statutory minimum penalties under Sec. 3553(e).

II.

Following her arrest for selling four kilograms of heroin to a government agent, Thomas cooperated with a federal investigation of other drug traffickers. In exchange for Thomas' assistance and her promise to plead guilty to the drug charges, the government requested the district court to depart downward from both the applicable Guideline range and from the ten-year mandatory minimum penalty. The government suggested a sentence of about half the Guideline range. Thomas requested a more extensive departure, based both on her assistance to the government and her extensive family obligations. Thomas introduced evidence showing that she cared for three mentally-disabled adult children and a four-year-old grandson. Until Thomas' incarceration, her grandson and her youngest child lived with her. Her second child, who resides in an institution, depended entirely upon Thomas for emotional support, and her oldest child, Diane, maintained her own apartment only with Thomas' assistance.

District Court Judge Milton Shadur sentenced Thomas to five years' probation and 1200 hours of community service, a sentence that reflected both Thomas' assistance to the government and her family circumstances. This court subsequently vacated Judge Shadur's sentence, finding (1) that a district court cannot order probation for a crime carrying a ten-year mandatory minimum penalty and (2) that the departure was unreasonable because the district court should not have considered Thomas' family obligations. United States v. Thomas, 930 F.2d 526 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 171, 116 L.Ed.2d 134 (1991) ("Thomas I ").

On remand, Thomas' case was reassigned to then District Court Judge Ilana Diamond Rovner. Judge Rovner sentenced Thomas to a term of six years' imprisonment, a sentence similar to that suggested by the government. When determining this sentence, the judge considered only Thomas' assistance to the government, explicitly refusing to factor in Thomas' family circumstances. As the judge told Thomas:

You argue that despite the emphasis in 28 U.S.C. Section 3553(e) and policy statement Section 5K1.1 on a defendant's substantial assistance once the government has moved for a downward departure, the Court is free to consider factors other than the quality and extent of the defendant's cooperation in determining the appropriate level of departure. Specifically, you have asked that the Court consider your family responsibility under 5H1.6.

I find that your position, Miss Thomas, is foreclosed by the Court of Appeals' decision [in Thomas I ]. The Seventh Circuit held that, "Only factors relating to a defendant's cooperation should influence the extent of a departure for providing substantial assistance under Section 3553(e)....

This Court is bound by the Court of Appeals' holdings in this case and it is, therefore, precluded from considering your family's circumstances in calculating the extent of an appropriate downward departure from a mandatory minimum sentence under Section 3553(e)....

Thomas now appeals her sentence.

III.

A. THE DEPARTURE FOR FAMILY CIRCUMSTANCES

Thomas argues that the judge should have considered her family circumstances when she imposed sentence. The government argues that we lack jurisdiction over Thomas' claim, and in the alternative, that her claim lacks merit. We agree with the government on both points.

1. Jurisdiction.

As the government points out, this court possesses limited jurisdiction over appeals from sentencing decisions. 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3742(a). Section 3742(a) restricts appellate jurisdiction to cases where the sentence:

(1) was imposed in violation of the law;

(2) was imposed as a result of an incorrect application of the sentencing guidelines; or

(3) is greater than the sentence specified in the applicable guideline range to the extent that the sentencing includes a greater fine or term of imprisonment, probation, or supervised release than the maximum established in the guideline range, or includes a more limiting condition of probation or supervised release under section 3568(b)(6) or (b)(11) than the maximum established in the guideline range; or

(4) was imposed for an offense for which there is no sentencing guideline and is plainly unreasonable. Federal courts may consider only alleged violations of the law or the Guidelines.

18 U.S.C. Sec. 3742(a).

This court has interpreted Sec. 3742(a) as a restriction on challenges to downward departures. Because subsection three limits appellate jurisdiction to sentences "greater than the sentence specified in the applicable guidelines range," this court has refused jurisdiction over appeals challenging only the extent of a downward departure. United States v. Gant, 902 F.2d 570, 572 (7th Cir.1990); United States v. Dean, 908 F.2d 215, 217 (7th Cir.1990), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 2801, 115 L.Ed.2d 974 (1991).

Despite our holdings in Dean and Gant, Thomas urges us to accept jurisdiction under Sec. 3742(a)(1) and Sec. 3742(a)(2), which allow review of sentences that were "imposed in violation of law" and that conflict with the Guidelines. In support of her position, Thomas cites cases where the district court has completely refused to grant a downward departure, a situation similar, but not identical, to her own case. In these cases, we have found jurisdiction where "the decision not to depart is the product of a conclusion that the judge lacks the authority to depart," but have denied review where the refusal to depart "reflects an exercise of the judge's discretion." United States v. Poff, 926 F.2d 588, 590 (7th Cir.) (en banc), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 96, 116 L.Ed.2d 67 (1991). The cases reason that a judge who misinterprets her authority has either committed a mistake of law under Sec. 3742(a)(1) or misapplied the guidelines under Sec. 3742(a)(2). Id. at 591.

This court need not decide whether Poff 's rule applies to cases like Thomas', where the judge agrees to depart but refuses to consider factors that the defendant deems relevant to the degree of the departure. We lack jurisdiction even if the rule applies, because Judge Rovner made a discretionary decision not to consider Thomas' family circumstances.

The judge's comments mirror Judge Mihm's comments in United States v. Gulley, 992 F.2d 108, 111 (7th Cir.1993). During Gulley's sentencing, Judge Mihm stated:

I have given considerable thought to this and I have done quite a bit of independent research on my own regarding this matter. I have looked for a reason, a lawful reason, for me to depart downward from the guidelines, and I cannot find one. I would be very happy to depart downward to a level 10 in this case, but none of the reasons offered by defense counsel have merit....

Aberrant behavior, while I don't have any problem with applying that term to the facts of this case, I do not believe that is a justification that would be accepted by the Seventh Circuit....

But since I cannot justify as a matter of conscience a sentence that departs from the guidelines, then I must sentence her pursuant to those guidelines. If I...