United States v. Jesus Montalvo Davila
Opinion
*585
Defendant-Appellant Jesus Montalvo Davila moves to recall the mandate and for leave to file an out-of-time petition for panel rehearing in light of
United States v. Herrold
,
I
In 2015, Montalvo pleaded guilty to reentering the United States in violation of
Montalvo appealed, challenging his sentence on the same grounds as in the district court. He argued that the Supreme Court's intervening decision in
Mathis v. United States
, --- U.S. ----,
On February 20, 2018, the en banc court issued its decision in
Herrold
, holding that the Texas burglary statute is indivisible and overruling
Uribe
.
Herrold
,
On March 2, 2018, Montalvo filed his motion to recall the mandate and for leave to file an out-of-time petition for panel rehearing. The Federal Public Defender thereafter moved to be reappointed as Montalvo's counsel.
II
This court has the "inherent power to recall [its] mandates."
*586
Calderon v. Thompson
,
When faced with a motion to recall its mandate, this court must balance two opposing interests: the interest in "prevent[ing] injustice" in the case at hand, 5 TH CIR . R. 41.2, and the interest in maintaining the finality of the judgment already rendered in the case. Assessing the relative weights of these competing considerations and determining whether the overall balance warrants recalling the mandate lies within the court's sound discretion.
Am. Iron & Steel Inst. v. EPA
,
III
Relying primarily on this court's precedent in Tolliver , Montalvo argues that recalling the mandate in this case is appropriate because: (1) Herrold has rendered our previous decision affirming his sentence "demonstrably wrong," and (2) failure to recall the mandate would produce *587 an unwarranted disparity between him and similarly situated defendants in other cases. We agree that both of these factors favor recall and find that a third consideration-Montalvo's demonstrated diligence in asserting his claim-does as well.
A
Courts exist not merely to decide cases, but to decide them correctly.
See
W. Virginia Oil & Gas Co. v. George E. Breece Lumber Co.
,
Thus, we have recognized that recalling the mandate is appropriate when a subsequent decision of the Supreme Court or this court renders a previous decision "demonstrably wrong."
Tolliver
,
In
Tolliver
, this court recalled its mandate after the Supreme Court "clearly overrule[d] [the] precedent upon which [this court] had relied to affirm" a defendant's convictions.
*588 B
"Recalling the mandate is also appropriate 'where there is a danger of incongruent results in cases pending at the same time.' "
Tolliver
,
Failure to recall the mandate in the present case would create an unwarranted sentencing disparity between Montalvo and similarly situated defendants in cases where the mandate has not yet issued.
4
Although these individuals are not Montalvo's co-defendants, the resultant disparity would undermine a central purpose of the Sentencing Guidelines,
see
Tapia v. United States
,
C
There are no
per se
time limits or any precise procedural hurdles that a movant must satisfy for a court to recall its mandate.
See
Emeary
,
The Government faults Montalvo for not filing a petition for rehearing en banc or a petition for a writ of certiorari. However, Montalvo objected to his sentence enhancement in the district court, not just on appeal. That shows sufficient diligence on his part. The court in Tolliver did not rely on this consideration, but it weighs substantially in favor of recalling the mandate in this case.
D
Turning to the overall balance of interests in this matter, we conclude that the finality interest is readily outweighed by
*589
the factors on the other side of the scale. We recognize that "[f]inality is essential to both the retributive and the deterrent functions of criminal law."
Calderon
,
Though we would reach the same result even without the benefit of precedent,
Tolliver
is particularly useful in guiding our exercise of discretion. The same two factors that led this court to recall its mandate in
Tolliver
are present in this case and support the same result here at least as much as they did there.
See
IV
Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that the court's May 4, 2017 order granting the Federal Public Defender's motion to withdraw as counsel is VACATED, and the Federal Public Defender's motion for reappointment as counsel is GRANTED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Montalvo's motion to recall the mandate and for leave to file a petition for panel rehearing out of time is GRANTED.
RHESA HAWKINS BARKSDALE, Circuit Judge, dissenting from granting the motion to recall the mandate and the two related motions:
The motion to recall the mandate should be denied because this case falls far short of presenting the "grave, unforeseen contingenc[y]" required by precedent.
Calderon v. Thompson
,
In addition, our local rule's permitting recalling a mandate
only
"to prevent injustice" requires our considering other relevant factors, some of which the majority does not discuss. Those factors include,
inter alia
:
Herrold
overturned established
*590
precedent in a narrow 8-7 decision; and, under that earlier precedent,
Davila
was correct when decided. 5th Cir. R. 41.2;
United States v. Herrold
,
I.
An analysis of
Tolliver
shows the instant case contains no "grave, unforeseen contingenc[y]".
Thompson
,
As the majority in this instance notes, our court recalled the mandate in
Tolliver
because "a subsequent decision of the Supreme Court or this court render[ed] a previous decision 'demonstrably wrong' ", and "there [was] a danger of incongruent results in cases
pending at the same time
". Order at 587-88 (citing
Tolliver
,
The facts in
Tolliver
are instructive: Eight defendants were convicted of drug offenses, with six of those eight also convicted of firearms offenses, all "arising from a narcotics conspiracy and gang war in New Orleans".
The Court granted
certiorari
, vacated, and remanded in the light of its recent decision in
Bailey v. United States
,
Prior to that decision on remand, Mets, another of the six co-conspirators convicted of firearms offenses, moved to recall the mandate, in order to permit our court's considering his case with Sterling and Moore's on remand in the light of Bailey . Id . at 123. Our court granted Mets recall-relief, in order not to create an "incongruent result" between Mets and his co-conspirators, Sterling and Moore, but refused to grant recall-relief to the three other defendants convicted of the firearms offenses because they did not file a timely certiorari petition or a motion to recall the mandate. Id . at 124.
That
Tolliver
involved co-conspirators
and
a change in the law is important because, as stated by the source on which the Court relied in
Thompson
, and the majority relies in its order, "it is difficult to justify recall of a mandate, destroying finality and repose, simply on the ground that the court of appeals reached a wrong decision". 16 Charles Alan Wright
et al
., Federal Practice and Procedure § 3938 (3d ed. 2012) (cited by
Thompson
,
The wisdom of these decisions is self-evident. Obviously, the mandate cannot be recalled in every case where there is a change in the law, absent some other "extraordinary circumstance[ ]".
Thompson
,
Were our discretionary recall-power to be applied liberally, all losing parties in any appeal, criminal or civil, would move to recall the mandate every time the Supreme Court or our court
en banc
changed the law. In the criminal context, recalling the mandate any time there is a change in the law would conflict with criminal law's "paramount" interest in finality and the general rule that changes in criminal law do not apply retroactively.
Id
. at 557,
That a change in the law alone is insufficient to recall the mandate is important, because the majority's interpretation of Tolliver 's "danger of incongruent results" basis for recall is overly broad. The majority purports to limit that basis to "similarly situated defendants", defined broadly as "defendants in other, unrelated criminal cases who received sentence enhancements due to the same prior conviction as [Davila] and whose appeals challenging those sentences were pending in this court during the same timeframe as [Davila's] appeal". Order at n.4 (emphasis added). Obviously, this interpretation is not only unworkable because it applies the basis broadly to factually unrelated cases, as discussed infra , but it is also unworkable because the temporal limitation is no limitation at all.
The limitation, which arbitrarily sets the temporal threshold for recall-relief at cases that "were pending in this court during the same timeframe as [Davila's]",
id
., is far too vague for application of this "extraordinary" form of relief,
Thompson
,
*592 Davila illegally reentered this country in July 2015, after being deported following his felony conviction; he pleaded guilty that November; our panel affirmed his sentence on 1 May 2017; the mandate issued on 23 May; and our court decided Herrold on 20 February 2018. The "same timeframe", in this context, could mean any appeal pending between 2015 (perhaps even 2014) and February 2018.
Because the majority applies this recall-basis to all cases "pending" in the same "timeframe", in effect, any defendant sentenced under the 2015 version of the Sentencing Guidelines may be granted relief. Accordingly, this dissent limits discussion of "similarly situated defendants" to mean those in "unrelated criminal cases" who received a 16-level enhancement following a Texas-burglary conviction, pursuant to Texas Penal Code § 30.02(a).
Contrary to the majority's position, "similarly situated defendants" cannot be interpreted so broadly as to include "unrelated criminal cases".
See
Order at n.4. A narrower, more appropriate reading makes plain this is not the "grave, unforeseen contingenc[y]" envisioned by the discretionary standard.
Thompson
,
The "incongruent results" basis was narrowly interpreted in
Tolliver
: As stated
supra
, defendants seeking relief in
Tolliver
were co-conspirators,
Obviously, Tolliver is distinguishable. The majority's order finds a danger of "incongruent results" even though Davila's case is not factually connected to Herrold's. Their only connection is that they were both convicted of burglary and our en banc court changed the law. Any sentencing discrepancies here are not the type of "incongruent results" with which Tolliver was concerned.
Interpreting the incongruent-results recall-basis so broadly as to include "similarly situated defendants" in "unrelated criminal cases", as the majority's order does, allows this court to recall the mandate every time there is a change in the law; but, that is contrary to Supreme Court precedent. Under such a rule, any criminal defendant who is convicted under the same statute or sentenced under the same advisory Guideline may be granted a new trial or resentencing. Take
Tolliver
, for example: Our court granted recall-relief only to the co-conspirator who had filed a timely motion to recall, requiring a stronger factual connection than being convicted under the same statute.
The narrow scope of
Tolliver
's incongruent-results basis for recall is important because, as discussed
supra
, under the controlling discretionary standard, that there was a change in the governing law should not be sufficient in every case to recall the mandate. "[T]he profound interests in repose" cannot tolerate a recall of the mandate for every "similarly situated defendant" every time there is a change in the governing law.
Thompson
,
II.
Again, this court may recall the mandate
only
"to prevent injustice". 5th Cir. R. 41.2. As the majority states correctly at 585-87, in determining whether failure to recall the mandate would produce "injustice", the court must consider all relevant factors.
E.g.
,
Sargent
,
The majority's order fails to consider relevant factors weighing against granting relief. More particularly, the order does not discuss that,
inter alia
:
Herrold
overruled
United States v. Uribe
,
A.
The first factor weighing against granting Davila recall-relief is that our panel opinion in
Davila
does not fit neatly into the definition of "demonstrably wrong".
Tolliver
,
As then-Judge Cardozo recognized in discussing a divided New York court, "[t]he closeness of the division attests the measure of the doubt".
People ex rel. Hayes v. McLaughlin
,
That seven of our judges would have upheld Herrold 's sentence mitigates, to some extent, the requisite "injustice" to Davila based on our court's changing the law in favor of criminal defendants after Davila's right to have his sentence reviewed was exhausted. Indeed, had the then two new members of our court participated in the en banc decision, the en-banc court very well could have reached a different rule. Herrold , 883 F.3d at n.*. And, the Government has filed a certiorari petition in the Supreme Court. United States v. Herrold , 17-1445 (filed 19 Apr. 2018). In short, Davila was not so objectively, obviously wrong as to obligate our recalling the mandate, even if that were our only consideration.
B.
In that regard, another factor weighing against granting recall-relief is that
Davila
*594
was correct when decided under this court's precedent and mandatory rule of orderliness.
United States v. Conde-Castaneda
,
It is undoubtedly unfair to allow a decision to stand when it was our court that made a clear or obvious error, such as overlooking precedent.
See,
e.g.
,
United States v. Emeary
,
C.
Toward that end, the facts and circumstances surrounding Davila's sentencing are significant. He pleaded guilty to burglary of a habitation, a very serious crime; but, after
Herrold
, his burglary for the advisory Guidelines base-offense enhancement purposes essentially does not "count[ ]".
Herrold
,
Although the categorical approach for application of a Guideline at sentencing does not permit considering the facts of defendants' case,
Mathis v. United States
, --- U.S. ----,
Witnesses at the scene of the burglary saw Davila and two others exiting a shattered window in a neighbor's house, carrying
*595
stolen electronics equipment; and the police apprehended Davila with the stolen goods. The victim did not know Davila, indicating he had felonious intent when he unlawfully entered the victim's home.
See
Herrold
,
D.
Finally, the interests of finality and the nature of our sentencing system counsel our extreme caution in disturbing the finality of a criminal defendant's sentence. The interests of finality are absolutely "paramount" in the criminal-justice system.
Thompson
,
A liberal application of our inherent, but discretionary , power to recall the mandate would disrupt our current sentencing system should the case be remanded for resentencing. (Here, the majority also grants leave to file an out-of-time petition for panel rehearing; the petition seeks remand for resentencing.)
Under that system, the Guidelines are not "mandatory and binding on all judges"; the Guidelines are only advisory.
United States v. Booker
,
To recall the mandate in this case-not to mention all cases with "similarly situated defendants", consistent with the majority's expansive application of our discretionary standard-sets in motion our possibly remanding for resentencing. Should remand be ordered, the probation office and district court must expend significant resources in re-investigating and re-calculating Davila's, and perhaps others', sentences.
Along that line, the probation officer will probably have to prepare a supplemental presentence-investigation report (PSR), after a thorough re-investigation of Davila's circumstances. Fed. R. Crim. P. 32(c)(1). The court must then recalculate Davila's advisory Guidelines-sentencing range, using an outdated (2015) version of the Guidelines. This task could prove difficult with Guideline 2L1.2 because a defendant's prior conviction might, or might not, count as an "aggravated felony", or otherwise fit many of the other sentencing enhancements. U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(1)(B) (2015).
But resentencing would not end with calculating the proper, advisory sentencing
*596
range: The court will have to expend further resources in resentencing Davila. It cannot merely calculate his sentence without the 16-level enhancement. It will have to "(1) [re]calculate[ ] the advisory sentencing range; (2) [re]consider[ ] the specific offender characteristics and grounds for departure enumerated in the Guidelines; and (3) [re]weigh[ ] the applicable factors in
That the Guidelines are discretionary is important in the light of the factual circumstances surrounding Davila's criminal history and sentencing, which also weigh against our granting him recall-relief. The Guidelines being advisory, the court could find the
Not only did Davila plead guilty to burglary of a habitation and illegal reentry, he also pleaded guilty to three separate instances of assault, all in the year 2012, the same year he committed burglary. These crimes are significant because, following his burglary conviction in December 2012, he was incarcerated in a Texas-state prison for one year (even though he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment), and deported in December 2013. He had been released only for 14 months before he was arrested for illegally reentering the United States in March 2015, a crime to which he pleaded guilty.
Despite Davila's prior crimes, he was sentenced to ten months below the minimum for his advisory Guidelines-sentencing range: He was sentenced to 47 months' imprisonment, even though his advisory range was 57 to 71 months. Although
Herrold
bars the resentencing court from applying the 16-level enhancement, Davila's being convicted of a serious felony could be considered under the
Along that line, the resentencing court may consider a departure because Davila had at least one arrest that did not count towards his criminal-history calculation. U.S.S.G. § 4A1.3(a)(1) (permitting departure "[i]f reliable information indicates that the defendant's criminal history category substantially under-represents the seriousness of the defendant's criminal history or the likelihood that the defendant will commit other crimes"). His PSR states his "criminal history may be under-represented, because [he] has a prior arrest for manufacturing/delivery of a controlled substance on August 27, 2012, which was dismissed because [he] was convicted on burglary of a habitation ... instead". In reweighing the
On remand, Davila's new advisory Guidelines-sentencing range, with a possible 8-level increase for "aggravated felony", would be 24 to 30 months' imprisonment, 17 months less than his current 47-month sentence. But, as discussed supra , that advisory calculation is not the end of the analysis. And, most importantly, Davila's *597 case may be but one of many. See id . Simply put, our criminal justice system was not designed to incorporate wide-spread resentencing in response to every change in governing law.
III.
For the foregoing reasons, I respectfully DISSENT from granting the motion to recall the mandate and the two related motions.
For example, suppose a court recalled the mandate in Case A based on three factors. Due regard for precedent would militate in favor of the court exercising its discretion to recall the mandate in a later case, Case B, provided that: (1) the same three factors are present in Case B, (2) each of the three factors weighs in favor of recalling the mandate in Case B at least as strongly as the same factor weighed in favor of doing so in Case A, and (3) the finality interest in Case B is no stronger than it was in Case A. If additional factors favoring recall are present in Case B but were absent in Case A, recalling the mandate in Case B becomes an even more compelling prospect. On the other hand, if condition (1), (2), or (3) is not met, and if Case A does not provide other guidance, then Case A will exert less of a constraining force on the outcome in Case B.
For purposes of recalling the mandate, we perceive no basis for distinguishing between subsequent decisions of the Supreme Court and subsequent decisions of this court.
The Government asserts that we should not recall the mandate because Montalvo could seek relief from his sentence by filing a motion under
By "similarly situated defendants," we mean defendants in other, unrelated criminal cases who received sentence enhancements due to the same prior conviction as Montalvo and whose appeals challenging those sentences were pending in this court during the same timeframe as Montalvo's appeal.
Concerns based on federalism and the nature of habeas review, both of which underlay much of the reasoning in
Calderon
,
see
Reference
- Full Case Name
- UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee v. Jesus Leonardo Montalvo DAVILA, Also Known as Jesus Montalvo, Also Known as Jesus L. Montalvo, Defendant-Appellant
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published