United States v. Anderson
| Decision Date | 19 November 2014 |
| Docket Number | No. 13–12945.,13–12945. |
| Citation | 772 F.3d 662 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. Jerry Jerome ANDERSON, Defendant–Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Michelle Lee Schieber, Michael J. Moore, U.S. Attorney, Sharon Ratley, U.S. Attorney's Office, Macon, GA, for Plaintiff–Appellee.
James William Cobb, Caplan Cobb, LLP, Jerry Jerome Anderson, USP Atlanta–Inmate Legal Mail, Atlanta, GA, for Defendant–Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. D.C. Docket No. 5:90–cr–00003–CAR–1.
Before WILSON and ROSENBAUM, Circuit Judges, and SCHLESINGER, * District Judge.
Jerry Jerome Anderson appeals the district court's denial of his second motion for a sentence reduction based on Amendment750 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines (“Sentencing Guidelines” or “U.S.S.G.”) pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2). The government argues that the district court did not even have jurisdiction to consider Anderson's second motion because he had already fully litigated one § 3582(c)(2) motion based on Amendment 750. The text of § 3582(c)(2) is silent on the availability of second or successive motions based on the same Amendment to the Sentencing Guidelines. Further, this Court has not directly addressed this issue, and other Circuits that have analyzed this issue are split.
In 1990, Jerry Anderson was convicted by a federal jury of the following counts: (1) conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine, 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846; (2) possession with intent to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine, 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1); (3) operating a continuing criminal enterprise, 21 U.S.C. § 848; (4) conspiracy to commit money laundering, 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1)(B)(i); and (5)-(7) money laundering, 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1)(B)(i), (2). Presentence Investigation Report (“PSI”) ¶¶ 1–9. The probation officer in the PSI discussed the amount of cocaine and crack cocaine sold during the relevant time period, and he determined that “at least 56 kilos of crack cocaine alone” were involved. Id. ¶ 27. Pursuant to the relevant section of the Sentencing Guidelines, an offense involving 15 kilograms or more of crack cocaine had a base offense level of 42; thus, it was determined that Anderson's base offense level was 42. Id. ¶ 46. The probation officer added four points pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2D1.5, because Anderson was convicted of operating a continuing criminal enterprise, resulting in a total offense level of 46. Id. Then, based on an offense level of 46 and a criminal history category of III, Anderson's guidelines range was life imprisonment. Id. ¶¶ 59, 70.
At Anderson's sentencing hearing in 1991, the district court determined that at least 15 kilograms of crack cocaine were involved in the operation, and the evidence would even support a finding of 56 or more kilograms of crack cocaine. Doc. 241 at 48. But at the least, 15 kilograms of crack cocaine were involved, which supported the finding that Anderson's base offense level was 42. Id. at 48–49. The district court then sentenced Anderson to life imprisonment. Doc. 208.
In 2006, the district court denied Anderson's motion to modify his sentence based on Amendment 505 of the Sentencing Guidelines. Doc. 360. Amendment 505 lowered the maximum base offense level from 42 to 38 for offenses involving certain quantities of various drugs. Id. at 1. Therefore, Anderson's base offense level became 38, with a four point addition pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2D1.5, for a total offense level of 42. Id. The district court recalculated Anderson's guideline sentencing range to be 360 months to life imprisonment. Id. However, upon consideration of the factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) and specifically taking note of the amount of drugs involved in the continuing criminal enterprise, the district court found that the sentence of life imprisonment remained appropriate. Id. Anderson appealed the district court order, and this Court affirmed. Doc. 371 at 8.
In 2008, Anderson moved for another sentence reduction pursuant to Amendment 706. Doc. 375. The district court determined that even after applying Amendment 706, Anderson's amended offense level remained 42 and his guidelines range remained 360 months to life imprisonment—the same range the district court found applicable after applying Amendment 505 in 2006. Doc. 377. The court thus denied Anderson's motion for a sentence reduction. Id. On appeal, the Eleventh Circuit granted a motion to withdraw by Anderson's counsel pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967), finding no issues of arguable merit and affirming the denial of Anderson's motion. Doc. 397.
This brings us to the present controversy. In November 2011, Anderson filed another § 3582(c)(2) motion for a sentence reduction based on Amendment 750 of the Sentencing Guidelines. Doc. 403. Amendment 750, among other things, raised the amount of crack cocaine necessary under U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1(c) to receive a base offense level of 38 from 4.5 kilograms to 8.4 kilograms. See U.S.S.G. app. C, amend. 750. The district court denied the motion, finding that Amendment 750 did not reduce Anderson's guidelines range. Docs. 405, 406. Anderson appealed, arguing that the district court abused its discretion in failing to state its reasons for denying his motion, in failing to use the 2011 Sentencing Guidelines in calculating his new guidelines range, and in failing to consider the various factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). Doc. 410 at 2. He also argued that a new PSI and sentencing hearing were necessary. Id. This Court found that the district court did not abuse its discretion, noting that Amendment 750 did not effectively reduce Anderson's guidelines range since his conviction involved at least 15 kilograms of crack cocaine; Amendment 750 only increased the minimum amount of crack cocaine necessary to receive a base offense level of 38 from 4.5 kilograms to 8.4 kilograms. Id. at 3–4. Thus, after adding four points pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2D1.5, Anderson's offense level was still 42 with a criminal history of III, which converted to an unchanged guidelines range of 360 months to life imprisonment. Id. at 4. The Sentencing Guidelines state that a district court may not modify an imposed term of imprisonment under § 3582(c)(2) unless the defendant's guidelines range was subsequently lowered by an Amendment; the district court was therefore without authority to reduce Anderson's sentence. Id. at 3 (citing U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10(a)(2)(B)).
In May 2013, Anderson filed the present “Renewed Motion for Reduction of Sentence” pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2). Doc. 415. He argued that the district court was obligated to recalculate his guidelines range based on the marijuana equivalents for cocaine and crack cocaine as set forth in U.S.S.G. § 2D1.1 cmt. n. 10 (2011), Amendment 750. Id. at 3–4. He asserted that if the district court properly used the drug equivalency tables, such a calculation would reduce his guidelines range from 360 months to life down to 292 to 365 months. Id. at 5. Anderson further argued that a sentence at the bottom of the guidelines range was appropriate pursuant to the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors. Id. at 13–19.
On June 14, 2013, the district court denied Anderson's renewed motion without waiting for the government's response. Doc. 416. Specifically, the district court found there to be “no change in circumstance” since the court's previous ruling that Amendment 750 did not apply to effectively lower his guidelines range. Id. Anderson timely appealed, and oral argument took place before this Court on October 16, 2014.
Having considered the parties' briefs and oral arguments, we note three issues to be determined on appeal: (1) whether the district court had jurisdiction to considerAnderson's renewed 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) motion based on Amendment 750; (2) if this Court has jurisdiction, whether Anderson's renewed motion is precluded by the law-of-the-case doctrine; and (3) if this Court reaches the merits, whether the district court erred in determining that Anderson did not qualify for a sentence reduction under Amendment 750 to the Sentencing Guidelines because it did not have the effect of lowering his guidelines range. This Court will address each of these issues in turn.
This Court must resolve jurisdictional issues before addressing the merits of the underlying claims. United States v. Cartwright, 413 F.3d 1295, 1299 (11th Cir.2005). We “review de novo the district court's legal conclusions regarding the scope of its authority under the Sentencing Guidelines in a § 3582(c)(2) proceeding.” United States v. Douglas, 576 F.3d 1216, 1218 n. 1 (11th Cir.2009) (citation omitted).
The government argues that the district court did not have jurisdiction to even consider Anderson's renewed motion because he had already fully litigated—in the district court and on appeal to the Eleventh Circuit—a motion based on the same amendment in the Sentencing Guidelines. Appellee's Brief at 8. Essentially, the government's argument is that a federal prisoner may only bring one motion under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) for each amendment in the Sentencing Guidelines that may apply to reduce the prisoner's sentence, no matter the outcome of the motion.
In response, Anderson agrees that generally, district courts do not have jurisdiction to modify a sentence once it has been imposed. See, e.g., United States v. Liberse, 688 F.3d 1198, 1201 (11th Cir.2012). However, he argues that 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c) creates a few exceptions to this rule, which grant district courts the authority to modify prisoners' terms of imprisonment. Replacement Reply Brief (“RRB”) at 2–3. The exception at issue in this case concerns “a term of imprisonment based on a sentencing range that...
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