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[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
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No. 20-12161
Non-Argument Calendar
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D.C. Docket No. 2:08-cr-00121-ALB-SRW-2
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
MARCUS JENKINS,
a.k.a. Stank,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Alabama
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(April 20, 2021)
Before JORDAN, NEWSOM, and GRANT, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Marcus Jenkins appeals the district court’s revocation of his supervised
release under
18 U.S.C. § 3583(e) and above-guidelines sentence of 48 months’
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imprisonment. Jenkins was subject to supervised release for conspiring to
distribute and to possess with intent to distribute crack and powder cocaine, in
violation of
21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846. He argues that the probation officer’s
initial petition did not adequately notify him of the charge against him because it
incorrectly described a warrant for his arrest. He thus argues that the district court
violated his due process rights in failing to dismiss the petition and allowing its
amendment. Jenkins next argues that the district court abused its discretion in
finding that he violated his supervised-release conditions because it erred in
crediting a government witness’s testimony to find that he committed third-degree
domestic violence under Alabama law. Finally, he argues that the district court
abused its discretion in sentencing him above the guideline range for his Grade C
violation of the conditions of his supervised release. We address each argument in
turn.
I
We review questions of constitutional law de novo. United States v. Brown,
364 F.3d 1266, 1268 (11th Cir. 2004). The Supreme Court has held that due
process entitles a parolee to certain protections, including written notice of any
claimed violations of parole prior to revocation. Morrissey v. Brewer,
408 U.S.
471, 488–89 (1972). We apply those protections to those in supervised release
proceedings. United States v. Copeland,
20 F.3d 412, 414 (11th Cir. 1994).
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We have explained that a revocation hearing “need not be as rigid or as
formal as a criminal trial either with respect to notice or specification of charges.”
United States v. Evers,
534 F.2d 1186, 1188 (5th Cir. 1976). We have accordingly
held that a motion to revoke probation stating as its basis “arrest and possession of
marihuana on November 24, 1974” provided adequate notice to the probationer
given the district court’s original judgment conditioning his probation on his
obedience of all local, state, and federal laws.
Id.
The district court did not violate Jenkins’s due process rights because,
despite misstating details about a warrant, the initial petition notified Jenkins that
he was charged with violating the Code of Alabama by committing a crime, and
the relevant condition of supervised release was that he not commit any federal,
state, or local crime. Thus, the initial petition adequately notified Jenkins of the
basis for his revocation and satisfied due process.
II
A district court may revoke a term of supervised release on finding by a
preponderance of the evidence that the defendant has violated a condition of that
release and, after considering certain
18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors, may impose a
term of imprisonment.
18 U.S.C. § 3583(e)(3). We review a district court’s
conclusion that a defendant violated the terms of his supervised release for abuse
of discretion. Copeland,
20 F.3d at 413. We review a district court’s findings of
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fact in the supervised-release-revocation context for clear error. United States v.
Almand,
992 F.2d 316, 318 (11th Cir. 1993).
Credibility determinations are typically the province of the factfinder, who
personally observes the testimony and is thus better positioned to assess the
witness’s credibility. United States v. Ramirez-Chilel,
289 F.3d 744, 749 (11th
Cir. 2002). Accordingly, a district court’s choice of whom to believe is conclusive
“unless the judge credits exceedingly improbable testimony.”
Id. We “must accept
the evidence unless it is contrary to the laws of nature, or is so inconsistent or
improbable on its face that no reasonable factfinder could accept it.”
Id.
Under Alabama law, a person commits the crime of menacing if, by physical
action, he intentionally places or attempts to place another person in fear of
imminent serious physical injury. Ala. Code § 13A-6-23(a). A person who does
so to someone with whom he has or had a dating relationship commits domestic
violence in the third degree. Id. § 13A-6-132(a)(1).
The district court did not clearly err in crediting the victim’s testimony here
because she consistently testified that Jenkins was in a relationship with her, drove
to the house where she was staying, and pointed a gun at her while she was
standing in a doorway. The district court thus did not credit testimony that was
exceedingly improbable and did not abuse its discretion in using it to find by a
preponderance of the evidence that Jenkins committed third-degree domestic
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violence, i.e., menacing, under Alabama law. That finding established that Jenkins
violated the condition of his supervised release that he not commit any state-law
crime.
III
We review the reasonableness of a district court’s sentence on revocation of
supervised release for abuse of discretion, using a two-step process. United States
v. Trailer,
827 F.3d 933, 935 (11th Cir. 2016). We first examine whether the
district court committed any significant procedural error, such as miscalculating
the advisory guideline range, treating the Sentencing Guidelines as mandatory,
failing to consider the
18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors, selecting a sentence based on
clearly erroneous facts, or failing to adequately explain the chosen sentence.
Id. at
936. We then examine whether the sentence is substantively reasonable in light of
the totality of the circumstances and the relevant § 3553(a) factors. Id.
On substantive review, we may vacate a sentence only if left with the
definite and firm conviction that the district court clearly erred in weighing the
relevant § 3553(a) factors. United States v. Irey,
612 F.3d 1160, 1190 (11th Cir.
2010) (en banc). The district court must consider, as relevant here, the nature and
circumstances of the offense, the defendant’s history and characteristics, and the
need for the sentence to protect the public from future criminal conduct.
18 U.S.C.
§ 3553(a)(1)-(2). The weight given to any § 3553(a) factor is a matter committed
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to the discretion of the district court. United States v. Williams,
526 F.3d 1312,
1322 (11th Cir. 2008).
A defendant whose supervised-release term is revoked under
18 U.S.C.
§ 3583(e)(3) may be required to serve a maximum of five years’ imprisonment if
the offense that caused the supervised-release term is a class-A felony.
18 U.S.C.
§ 3583(e)(3). An offense is a class-A felony if the maximum term of
imprisonment authorized is life.
Id. § 3559(a)(1). The maximum penalty
authorized for violating
21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) is life imprisonment.
21 U.S.C.
§ 841(b)(1)(A).
The Sentencing Guidelines provide that a supervised-release violation
involving a federal, state, or local offense punishable by one year’s imprisonment
or less is a Grade C violation. U.S.S.G. § 7B1.1(a)(3)(A). A guideline range of 7
to 13 months’ imprisonment applies to a Grade C supervised-release violation
committed by an offender with a criminal history category of V. Id. § 7B1.4(a).
Alabama law provides that domestic violence in the third degree is a misdemeanor
with a maximum penalty of one year’s imprisonment. Ala. Code §§ 13A-6-132(b),
13A-5-7(a)(1).
The district court did not commit any procedural error in sentencing Jenkins,
as the record reflects that it correctly calculated the guideline range to be 7 to 13
months’ imprisonment, did not treat the Guidelines as mandatory, considered the
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appropriate § 3553(a) factors, and did not base its sentence on any clearly
erroneous facts. Further, the record reflects that the district court adequately
explained its chosen sentence.
Nor was Jenkins’s 48-month sentence substantively unreasonable. Although
the sentence exceeded the guideline range, the record reflects that the district court
considered the appropriate factors in imposing it, including Jenkins’s reverting to
substance abuse so soon after release from prison, the need to protect the public
from his association with drug providers, and the nature of his violation, which
involved violence and a firearm. The weight the court gave those factors was
committed to its discretion, and Jenkins’s 48-month sentence was a year below the
statutory maximum, which supports a finding that the sentence was substantively
reasonable.
We accordingly AFFIRM.
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