United States v. Demetris Dean

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

United States v. Demetris Dean

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS SEP 23 2021

MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK

U.S. COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 21-30058

Plaintiff-Appellee, D.C. No. 2:15-cr-00022-WFN-1 v. DEMETRIS EDWARD DEAN, MEMORANDUM*

Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Eastern District of Washington

Wm. Fremming Nielsen, District Judge, Presiding

Submitted September 14, 2021** Before: PAEZ, NGUYEN, and OWENS, Circuit Judges.

Demetris Edward Dean appeals pro se from the district court’s order denying his motion for a reduction of sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.

Dean contends that the district court improperly treated U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13

*

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). as binding and, as a result, wrongly concluded that its discretion was limited to matters of poor health, age, and family circumstances. Dean is correct that § 1B1.13 is not binding on judicial review of § 3582(c)(1)(A) motions filed by defendants. See United States v. Aruda, 993 F.3d 797, 802 (9th Cir. 2021). However, the record belies any argument that the district court viewed § 1B1.13 as binding in this case. The court did not reference or cite § 1B1.13, and there is no indication that the court improperly limited its discretion to the circumstances outlined therein. Rather, the court assumed that some of Dean’s arguments for a sentence reduction could be persuasive in the appropriate case, but reasonably concluded that Dean had not demonstrated extraordinary and compelling circumstances warranting a reduction of his below-Guideline sentence. See 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i). The district court did not abuse its discretion. See Aruda, 993 F.3d at 799.

AFFIRMED.

2 21-30058

Reference

Status
Unpublished