United States v. Dominick Coleman
United States v. Dominick Coleman
Opinion
UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 20-4084
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
DOMINICK RANDELL COLEMAN, a/k/a D,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, at Abingdon. Elizabeth Kay Dillon, District Judge. (7:06-cr-00027-EKD-1)
Submitted: December 2, 2020 Decided: December 15, 2020
Before FLOYD, HARRIS, and RICHARDSON, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Juval O. Scott, Federal Public Defender, Brooks A. Duncan, Assistant Federal Public Defender, OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER, Roanoke, Virginia, for Appellant. Thomas T. Cullen, United States Attorney, Jonathan Jones, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Roanoke, Virginia, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. PER CURIAM:
Dominick Randell Coleman appeals the district court’s judgment revoking his
supervised release and imposing a sentence of 10 months in prison and three years of
supervised release. On appeal, he does not challenge the district court’s decision to revoke
his supervised release but contends that its failure to sufficiently factor or address his
efforts at rehabilitation in the month before the revocation proceeding and his earlier
overserved sentence constituted procedural error warranting resentencing. We affirm.
“A sentencing court has broad discretion to impose a revocation sentence up to the
statutory maximum.” United States v. Coston,
964 F.3d 289, 296(4th Cir. 2020) (internal
quotation marks and citations omitted). “‘We will not disturb a district court’s revocation
sentence unless it falls outside the statutory maximum or is otherwise plainly
unreasonable.’” United States v. Doctor,
958 F.3d 226, 238(4th Cir. 2020) (citation
omitted). “First, we determine whether the sentence is ‘unreasonable at all,’ procedurally
or substantively.” Coston,
964 F.3d at 296(citation omitted). “If it is not, we affirm; if it
is unreasonable, we determine whether it is plainly so.”
Id.(citation omitted).
“A revocation sentence is procedurally reasonable if the district court adequately
explains the chosen sentence after considering the Chapter Seven policy statement range
and the applicable § 3553(a) sentencing factors.” United States v. Patterson,
957 F.3d 426, 436(4th Cir. 2020) (citation omitted). A sentence within the policy statement range
requires less explanation.
Id. at 439(citations omitted). In explaining its sentence, the
district court “must address the parties’ nonfrivolous arguments in favor of a particular
sentence, and if the court rejects those arguments, it must explain why in a detailed-enough
2 manner that this Court can meaningfully consider the procedural reasonableness of the
revocation sentence imposed.” United States v. Slappy,
872 F.3d 202, 208(4th Cir. 2017).
“[A] revocation sentence is substantively reasonable if the court ‘sufficiently state[s] a
proper basis for its conclusion that’ the defendant should receive the sentence imposed.”
Id. at 207(citation omitted). We presume that a sentence within the policy statement range
is reasonable. United States v. Webb,
738 F.3d 638, 641(4th Cir. 2013).
“By drawing arguments from § 3553 for a sentence different than the one ultimately
imposed, an aggrieved party sufficiently alerts the district court of its responsibility to
render an individualized explanation addressing those arguments, and thus preserves its
claim.” United States v. Lynn,
592 F.3d 572, 578(4th Cir. 2010). “Of course, lodging one
specific claim of procedural sentencing error before the district court, e.g., relying on
certain § 3553 factors, does not preserve for appeal a different claim of procedural
sentencing error, e.g., relying on different § 3553 factors.” Id. at 579 n.4. Moreover,
merely pointing out facts without making arguments for a different sentence based on
consideration of the § 3553 factors does not preserve the claim. See id. at 580.
We have reviewed the record and conclude that Coleman’s sentence is reasonable.
He violated the conditions of his supervised release by brandishing a firearm, and his policy
statement range was 6 to 12 months. In the district court, he argued that although he had
been rough to supervise at times, he had shown a lot of success in the last month before the
final revocation proceeding; and he asked the court to allow him to complete his treatment
program in lieu of incarceration. After considering the Chapter Seven policy statement
range and applicable § 3553(a) factors, the court found that a sentence within the range
3 was appropriate based on Coleman’s significant breach of trust and violent nature of his
violation, in order to deter him and protect the public from his future crimes; but the court
considered and credited his recent progress by not giving him the high end of his policy
statement range. The court recommended that he receive any available treatment while in
custody and encouraged him to seek treatment again when released. On appeal, Coleman
contends that the court failed to sufficiently factor or address his efforts at rehabilitation or
his earlier “overserved” sentence. However, as the Government correctly notes, Coleman
did not make any arguments or requests based on his earlier sentence of time-served in the
district court; and he fails to show any plain error by the court. Moreover, we conclude
that the court adequately addressed his arguments and explained its sentence.
Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s judgment. We dispense with oral
argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials
before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process.
AFFIRMED
4
Reference
- Status
- Unpublished