United States v. Watson
Opinion of the Court
SUMMARY ORDER
UPON DUE CONSIDERATION, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the district court’s order, entered on June 29, 2005, is hereby AFFIRMED.
Last year, this court affirmed the conviction of defendant-appellant Roger Watson, after a jury trial, on two counts of substantive and conspiratorial marijuana trafficking, see 21 U.S.C. §§ 812, 841(a)(1),
The purpose of a Crosby remand is to ascertain whether non-final sentences imposed prior to the Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005), manifest plain error under the Sixth Amendment. See United States v. Crosby, 397 F.3d at 118 (observing that Booker Sixth Amendment error is harmless “if the judge decides on remand, in full compliance with now applicable requirements, that ... the sentence would have been essentially the same as originally imposed” if the court had known that the Guidelines were discretionary rather than mandatory). The district court having concluded, on remand, that it “would not have pronounced a different sentence” in Watson’s case if it had understood the Guidelines to be discretionary, this case presents us with no plain error. Accordingly, to the extent Watson persists in challenging his sentence on appeal, our review is now limited to an assessment of reasonableness. See United States v. Booker, 125 S.Ct. at 767.
Reasonableness review has two components: (1) procedural reasonableness, whereby we consider such factors as whether the district court properly (a) identified the Guidelines range supported by the facts found by the court, (b) treated the Guidelines as advisory, and (c) considered the Guidelines together with the other factors outlined in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a); and (2) substantive reasonableness, whereby we consider whether the length of the sentence is reasonable in light of the factors outlined in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). United States v. Crosby, 397 F.3d at 114-15.
To the extent Watson appears to contend that his sentence is procedurally unreasonable because the district court persisted in calculating his Guidelines by reference to drug quantities not found proved beyond a reasonable doubt by the jury, his argument is foreclosed by Crosby. See id. at 115 (holding that a sentencing judge would “violate section 3553(a) by limiting consideration of the applicable Guidelines range to the facts found by the jury or admitted by the defendant, instead of considering the applicable Guidelines range, as required by subsection 3553(a)(4), based on the facts found by the court”).
Similarly without merit is Watson’s argument that the length of his sentence is substantively unreasonable. “Because ‘reasonableness’ is inherently a concept of flexible meaning,” id., the reasonableness standard of review is necessarily “deferential,” United States v. Canova, 412 F.3d 331, 350 (2d Cir. 2005). Although this court has recognized the possibility that a sentence within prescribed statutory limits may, nevertheless, “exceed the bounds of ‘reasonableness,’ ” we have emphasized that “we anticipate encountering such circumstances infrequently.” United States v. Fleming, 397 F.3d 95, 100 (2d Cir. 2005). This is not one of those rare cases.
Watson asserts that his sentence is unreasonable because the district court placed undue emphasis on the quantity of marijuana at issue in his crimes of convic-
The district court’s June 29, 2005 order declining to reimpose sentence is hereby AFFIRMED.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- United States v. Roger WATSON
- Status
- Published