United States v. Sadler
| Decision Date | 01 March 2016 |
| Docket Number | No. 14-8005,14-8005 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. JUSTIN J. SADLER, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
(D. Wyo.)
ORDER AND JUDGMENT*Before HARTZ, HOLMES, and PHILLIPS, Circuit Judges.
After he was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2), Defendant-Appellant Justin Sadler was sentenced to a term of 120 months' imprisonment. He contends that his sentencing range—determined pursuant to the United States Sentencing Guidelines ("U.S.S.G." or "Guidelines")—is both procedurally and substantivelyunreasonable. Exercising jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 3742(a) and 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we reject these challenges and affirm the judgment of the district court.
The events giving rise to the prosecution in this case transpired during the late hours of February 1, 2013, and the early hours of February 2, 2013. That night, Alicia Klein began receiving text messages from Mr. Sadler—her former boyfriend—who wanted her to "hang out with him" and threatened to "come there and beat . . . up" her social companions when she declined. R., Vol. 4, at 76 (Trial Tr., dated Dec. 9, 2013). Later in the evening, Mr. Sadler sent more text messages asking Ms. Klein to pick him up from his boss's home because he was too inebriated to drive. Ms. Klein agreed.
When Ms. Klein arrived at the pre-arranged location, she found Mr. Sadler getting into a physical altercation with his father, Craig Sadler ("Craig"). Once the men stopped fighting, Ms. Klein, following Craig, drove Mr. Sadler to Craig's residence. Mr. Sadler "wanted to fight and argue" with Ms. Klein during the car ride; she asked him to be quiet. Id. at 79.
After reaching Craig's home, Ms. Klein went inside to assist Craig with his blood-pressure medication and then agreed to stay and talk to Mr. Sadler. She and Mr. Sadler went into Mr. Sadler's bedroom, but she decided to leave once it became obvious that Mr. Sadler "wanted to talk about [her] being with one of[her] ex-boyfriends, [which] always led to a fight." Id. at 80. Her attempted departure prompted Mr. Sadler to throw her "across the bed into the wall." Id. Ms. Klein then endeavored to get up, collect her car keys and phone from the kitchen, and leave. At that point, Mr. Sadler ran to the kitchen and opened a door. He threw Ms. Klein's keys and phone out of the door and "threw [Ms. Klein] outside down the stairs," ripping her shirt in the process. Id.
Finding herself locked outside the residence, shoeless and shirtless in extremely cold weather, Ms. Klein pounded on the door and begged to be let inside. Eventually either Mr. Sadler or Craig unlocked the door, and she went back into the home and saw Mr. Sadler standing near a handgun that was on a television stand. She had not noticed a gun in the house before Mr. Sadler threw her outside—or, for that matter, during any prior visit to that residence.
Shortly after Ms. Klein re-entered the home, Mr. Sadler picked up the gun and said, "[T]his is a hostage situation and nobody is going anywhere." Id. at 82. He then repeatedly tapped the gun against the back of Ms. Klein's head and her temple. Ms. Klein tried to defend herself by hitting Mr. Sadler in the face three times, which only served to make him angrier. Concerned that "somebody [had] called the cops," Mr. Sadler began "pacing back and forth" with the gun. Id. at 83. Eventually, Ms. Klein coaxed Mr. Sadler to lie down in his bedroom with her—although he held onto the gun—and they both fell asleep.
When Ms. Klein awoke the next morning, the gun was "lean[ing] up against the window sill" of Mr. Sadler's bedroom. Id. at 85. Craig took possession of the gun, and Ms. Klein retrieved her phone. Because Ms. Klein could not find her car keys, she waited "about [forty-five] minutes to an hour" for a friend to come and pick her up. Id. at 87. She told her friend that "something really bad [had] happened" when she requested a ride home. Id. Within approximately one hour, she received a text message from Mr. Sadler that said, Id. at 88.
A federal grand jury of the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming returned a one-count indictment against Mr. Sadler on May 23, 2013, charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2). Although he originally agreed to plead guilty to the charges, Mr. Sadler exercised his right to a jury trial that took place on December 9 and 10, 2013. The jury found him guilty as charged.
Using the 2012 version of the Guidelines, the United States Probation Office prepared a presentence investigation report ("PSR"). The PSR observed that Mr. Sadler had a prior felony conviction and determined the appropriate base offense level with reference to U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1 (). Because it concluded that Mr. Sadler possessed the prohibited gun in connection with the commission of another felony offense—specifically, "[k]idnapping which resulted in the victim being sexuallyassaulted1 while the defendant possessed a firearm," R., Vol. 2, ¶ 53, at 46 (Revised Presentence Investigation Report, filed Dec. 11, 2013)—the PSR cross-referenced U.S.S.G. § 2X1.1 in its computations. See U.S.S.G. § 2K2.1(c)(1)(A). That guideline (i.e., § 2X1.1) directed the use of "[t]he base offense level from the guideline for the substantive offense, plus any adjustments from such guideline for any intended offense conduct that can be established with reasonable certainty." Id. § 2X1.1(a). Further reference to the guideline for the substantive offense of kidnapping2 yielded a base offense level of thirty-two. See id. § 2A4.1(a) (kidnapping guideline).
The PSR then recommended a two-level sentencing increase, pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2A4.1(b)(3), based upon its finding that Mr. Sadler possessed a "dangerous weapon" that he used to confine Ms. Klein unlawfully in Craig's residence when she attempted to leave. PSR, ¶ 13, at 37. It also prescribed a six-level increase, as set forth in U.S.S.G. § 2A4.1(b)(5), because it found that Mr. Sadler sexually exploited Ms. Klein "while [he] was preventing her from leaving the residence." PSR, ¶ 14, at 37. Referencing Mr. Sadler's adjusted offense level of 40 and his criminal history category of IV, the PSR computed an advisoryGuidelines range of 360 months to life imprisonment. However, it ultimately recommended a term of imprisonment of 120 months (i.e., ten years)—the statutorily authorized maximum sentence for Mr. Sadler's offense of conviction.3 See U.S.S.G. § 5G1.1(a) ().
In a filed response to the PSR, Mr. Sadler disputed the cross-reference to the kidnapping guideline to establish his base offense level and objected to the imposition of the two above-noted sentencing enhancements. He renewed these objections at sentencing. Notably, he insisted that "the facts d[id] not fit the cross-referenc[e]" to kidnapping, R., Vol. 4, at 332 (Tr. Sent'g Hr'g, dated Jan. 6, 2014)—an offense which requires some degree of involuntary detention of another individual under the relevant federal and Wyoming statutes.4 Mr. Sadlerclaimed that the kidnapping cross-reference lacked an adequate factual basis because Ms. Klein eventually left Craig's home voluntarily and did so without reporting the incident to law enforcement. Additionally, he argued that it would be "disturbing and unfair" for the court to impose a sentence "based on mostly hearsay-type evidence" concerning kidnapping. R., Vol. 4, at 333.
The evidence to which Mr. Sadler apparently objected on hearsay grounds was sentencing-hearing testimony given by Corporal Paul Pownall, an investigator with the Campbell County, Wyoming, Sheriff's Office. Corporal Pownall, who had testified at Mr. Sadler's trial, appeared at the sentencing todiscuss the fruits of his February 25, 2013, interview with Ms. Klein. He stated that Ms. Klein had conveyed that "Justin Sadler tried to have sex with her," and that she had indicated that her response was: R., Vol. 4, at 317. According to Corporal Pownall, Ms. Klein then told him the specifics of Mr. Sadler's rejoinder—"You wouldn't say no to somebody who had a gun"—and admitted that she did have sex with Mr. Sadler that night because she "felt coerced into" doing so. Id. at 317-18.
Mr. Sadler personally made an unsworn statement at the sentencing hearing wherein, inter alia, he denied committing the alleged sexual assault and suggested that he had been denied the opportunity to confront his accusers "to refute the[ ] kidnapping charges." Id. at 348. However, the district court ultimately rejected Mr. Sadler's various objections, accepted the PSR's findings, and imposed the statutorily authorized maximum sentence of 120 months. Mr. Sadler has timely appealed.
Turning to Mr. Sadler's challenges to the sentence he received, "[w]e review sentences for reasonableness under a deferential abuse of discretion standard." United States v. Haley, 529 F.3d 1308, 1311 (10th Cir. 2008); see United States v. Smart, 518 F.3d 800, 803 (10th Cir. 2008) (). Our assessment of reasonableness "includes both procedural reasonableness, which encompasses the manner in which a sentence was calculated, and substantive reasonableness, which concerns the length of the sentence."...
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