United States v. Raul Amezcua

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

United States v. Raul Amezcua

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS APR 16 2021 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 21-10020

Plaintiff-Appellee, D.C. Nos. 1:93-cr-05046-DAD-1 v. 1:93-cr-05046-DAD

RAUL AMEZCUA, MEMORANDUM* Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California Dale A. Drozd, District Judge, Presiding

Submitted April 15, 2021** San Francisco, California

Before: WARDLAW, GOULD, and OWENS, Circuit Judges.

Raul Amezcua appeals from the district court’s order denying his motion for

compassionate release under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i). The district court held

that Amezcua had not shown “extraordinary and compelling” reasons warranting

his release. 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i). In doing so, the district court appears to

* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). have relied on the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s policy statement in U.S.

Sentencing Guidelines Manual (“U.S.S.G.”) § 1B1.13. After the district court’s

decision, we held that “the current version of U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13 is not an

‘applicable policy statement[ ]’ for 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A) motions filed by a

defendant.” United States v. Aruda, No. 20-10245, 2021 WL 1307884, at *4 (9th

Cir. Apr. 8, 2021) (per curiam). “The Sentencing Commission’s statements in

U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13 may inform a district court’s discretion for § 3582(c)(1)(A)

motions filed by a defendant, but they are not binding.” Id.

In light of our intervening decision in Aruda, we vacate and remand so that

the district court can reassess Amezcua’s motion for compassionate release under

the standard set forth there. We offer no views as to the merits of Amezcua’s

§ 3582(c)(1)(A)(i) motion.

VACATED AND REMANDED.

2

Reference

Status
Unpublished