U.S. v. Williams

• Decision Date: 01 June 2007
• Docket Number: No. 04-3157.,04-3157.
• Citation: 488 F.3d 1004
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellee v. Robert WILLIAMS, A/K/A Robert Crowder, Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit

488 F.3d 1004

UNITED STATES of America, Appellee v. Robert WILLIAMS, A/K/A Robert Crowder, Appellant.

No. 04-3157.

United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued January 11, 2007.

Decided June 1, 2007.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (No. 04cr00136-01).

Ernest W. McIntosh, Jr., appointed by the court, argued the cause for the appellant.

Patricia A. Heffernan, Assistant United States Attorney, argued the cause for the appellee. Kenneth L. Wainstein, United States Attorney at the time the brief was filed, and Roy W. McLeese III, Assistant United States Attorney, were on brief for the appellee.

Before: HENDERSON, RANDOLPH and KAVANAUGH, Circuit Judges.

Opinion for the court filed by Circuit Judge HENDERSON.

KAREN LECRAFT HENDERSON, Circuit Judge.

Appellant Robert Williams pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a person convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), unlawfully possessing with intent to distribute (PWID) cocaine base in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(C) and unlawfully possessing with intent to distribute cannabis in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(D). Because Williams had been convicted of three prior "serious drug offense[s]," the district court sentenced him to 15 years of incarceration pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 924(e).¹ Williams now appeals his sentence, arguing that (1) the district court erred by sentencing him pursuant to section 924(e), (2) he received ineffective assistance of counsel when his trial counsel failed to object to his sentence and (3) the Government breached the plea agreement by alerting the court to his three prior convictions. For the reasons set forth below, we reject Williams's arguments and affirm his sentence.

I.

On February 16, 2004, two members of the United States Park Police observed a blue Mercury Marquis with temporary tags exceeding the speed limit in southeast Washington, D.C. and conducted a traffic stop.² When one of the officers approached the automobile to speak to the driver, he detected the odor of burnt marijuana emanating from the vehicle. After requesting that the driver lower the car's tinted windows, he smelled fresh marijuana and discovered four additional occupants in the vehicle, including Williams. One of the officers removed Williams from the car and noticed a heavy object in one of his jacket pockets. On touching Williams's pocket, the officer believed Williams possessed a gun. He then searched Williams and recovered a .9mm pistol containing seven rounds of ammunition. Williams was arrested and a second search of his person revealed 22 ziplock bags of marijuana and a bag containing eight pink ziplock bags of crack cocaine.

In an indictment filed March 16, 2004, a grand jury charged Williams with unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a person convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) (Count 1); PWID cocaine base in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(C) (Count 2); PWID cannabis in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(D) (Count 3); and using, carrying and possessing a firearm during a drug trafficking offense in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1) (Count 4). On July 15, 2004, Williams signed a plea agreement in which he pleaded guilty to Counts 1, 2 and 3. Williams also agreed, inter alia, to the following: (1) Count 1 carried a maximum prison sentence of 10 years, Count 2 carried a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and Count 3 carried a maximum prison sentence of five years; (2) the United States Sentencing Guidelines (U.S.S.G.) Manual would determine Williams's "guideline range," Letter from Kenneth L. Wainstein, United States Attorney, to Mona Asiner, Counsel for Robert Williams 2 (July 15, 2004) (Plea Agreement), reprinted in Appellee's Record Material (RM) at Tab A; and (3) based on his criminal history, Williams was a "career offender" subject to "the career offender provisions of the Sentencing Guidelines," id. The Factual Proffer attached to the Plea Agreement stated that "[Williams] had been previously convicted of the following felony drug convictions in the District of Columbia: Unlawful Distribution of Cocaine, in 1996, Attempted Distribution of Cocaine in 1993, and Possession with Intent to Distribute Cocaine in 1985." Id. at 8. In exchange for Williams's cooperation, the Government agreed (1) "not [to] seek an upward departure from the otherwise applicable guideline range established by the Sentencing Guidelines," id. at 2, (2) to decrease Williams's base offense level by three points for acceptance of responsibility under U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1(b) and (3) to request that the court dismiss Count 4 at the sentencing hearing. Id. at 4.

On July 16, 2004, the district court held Williams's plea hearing. In explaining the Plea Agreement, defense counsel declared "[Williams] agrees in the plea agreement that he has been previously convicted and the three felonies are spell [sic] out." Tr. 7/16/04, at 8. When asked by the district court about the nature of the prior convictions, counsel further explained:

There are three drug felonies. Let me get out the full papers, Your Honor . . . One is distribution of cocaine where he was sentenced from 20 to 60 months in '96. The other is attempt [sic] distribution of cocaine in '93, two to six years, ESS, two years probation. Then there was PWID cocaine in '85. 20 months to five years . . . He did the time with some in and out with revocations and so on.

Id. at 9-10. Despite Williams's assurance to the court that he understood the Plea Agreement, the district court found it unfair to Williams and rejected it, explaining, "[A] waiver of Blakely rights, particularly by a man with a sixth grade education who isn't quite sure he can even read the plea agreement is not a good idea."³ Id. at 11.

The parties reconvened for entry of Williams's guilty plea on August 5, 2004. Defense counsel began by alerting the district court that she had previously miscalculated Williams's sentence and that the correct sentence under the Guidelines "inure[d] to the detriment of Mr. Williams." Tr. 8/5/04, at 2-3. Counsel explained, "[I]f the Probation Office finds that he is an armed career criminal . . . the guideline range would be . . . an offense level 37 minus three points for acceptance of responsibility, which would be a 34 . . . [s]o pursuant to a plea, he would be at 262 to 327 months." Id. at 3 (emphasis added). When questioned by the court about the severity of the sentence, defense counsel responded, "I told [Williams] that I'm against this, but he—this is what he wants to do." Id. at 4. Nevertheless, the judge again refused to accept Williams's guilty plea.

Although the court had twice expressed its dissatisfaction with the Plea Agreement, defense counsel resubmitted it one week later. She also recalculated the suggested sentencing range, asserting that Williams could receive 188 to 235 months' imprisonment. In response to questioning by the court, Williams stated that he expected to be released from prison in a "[l]ong time . . . [s]ay 15 years" when he is "[a]bout 60 something." Tr. 8/11/04, at 5. This time, the court accepted his plea.

On September 17, 2004, the United States Probation Office issued a presentence report (PSR) for Williams. On October 6th, the Government objected to the PSR's classification of Williams as a "Career Offender," asserting that it "appear[ed] that [Williams] should be classified as an armed career offender pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 4B1.4 and 18 U.S.C. 924(e)" and therefore his "sentence would involve a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years of incarceration."⁴ Letter from Tricia D. Francis, Assistant United States Attorney, to Deborah Stevens Panzer, U.S. Probation Office (Oct. 6, 2004) (Francis Letter), reprinted in Appellant's Appendix (AA) at Tab 7 (emphasis added). Five days later, the probation office issued a revised PSR categorizing Williams as an armed career offender under 18 U.S.C § 924(e) subject to a mandatory minimum term of 15 years' incarceration.

At Williams's sentencing hearing on October 27, 2004, the district court concluded that it was required under 18 U.S.C. § 924(e) to sentence him to a minimum of 15 years' imprisonment. The court explained, "The plea agreement notes that Mr. Williams' violation of 922(g)(1) has a maximum of 10 years in prison, which is inconsistent with the armed career criminal finding, but the plea agreement also says the guidelines apply." Tr. 10/27/04, at 3. Defense counsel objected, arguing:

[I]n the plea agreement it says that [Williams] would be subject to the career offender provisions. When I got the presentence report and I noted my particular objections, I said I didn't object to career offender because that's what was here. The original presentence report did not have him as an armed career offender, so when it was redone, based on the Government's objection, it made him under the Armed Career Offender Act, which is different than the Career Offender Act.

Id. The court ultimately sentenced Williams to 15 years' imprisonment for being a felon in possession of a firearm, 15 years for PWID cocaine base and five years for PWID cannabis, the terms to be served concurrently. This appeal followed.

II.

We address separately Williams's sentencing, ineffective assistance of counsel and plea agreement claims.

A. Sentencing Claims

The district court sentenced Williams pursuant to section 924(e) because he pleaded guilty to a violation of section 922(g) and because, as his PSR indicated, he had been convicted of three prior "serious drug offense[s]"—unlawful distribution of cocaine in 1996, attempted distribution of cocaine in 1992⁵ and PWID cocaine in 1985. Williams argues that the court erred regarding two of his prior...