United States v. Christian Brown ( 2022 )


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  • USCA11 Case: 21-12127      Date Filed: 07/26/2022   Page: 1 of 6
    [DO NOT PUBLISH]
    In the
    United States Court of Appeals
    For the Eleventh Circuit
    ____________________
    No. 21-12127
    Non-Argument Calendar
    ____________________
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
    Plaintiff-Appellee,
    versus
    CHRISTIAN BROWN,
    a.k.a. Fat Boy,
    Defendant-Appellant.
    ____________________
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the Southern District of Florida
    D.C. Docket No. 1:13-cr-20391-KMW-1
    ____________________
    USCA11 Case: 21-12127             Date Filed: 07/26/2022         Page: 2 of 6
    2                          Opinion of the Court                       21-12127
    Before LUCK, LAGOA, and BLACK, Circuit Judges.
    PER CURIAM:
    Christian Lee Brown, a counseled federal prisoner, appeals
    following the district court’s denial of his renewed motion for com-
    passionate release under 
    18 U.S.C. § 3582
    (c)(1)(A), as amended by
    section 603(b) of the First Step Act. 1 In denying the motion, the
    district court found Brown’s health concerns did not constitute an
    extraordinary and compelling reason warranting relief and that the
    
    18 U.S.C. § 3553
    (a) factors did not support release. In his counseled
    brief on appeal, Brown asserts the district court failed to consider
    whether it could have placed him on supervised release, but he
    does not otherwise expressly refer to the § 3553(a) factors and does
    not argue they weighed in favor of his release. He also asserts the
    district court abused its discretion when it found he did not have
    extraordinary and compelling reasons warranting release based on
    his health conditions and he contends our decision in United States
    v. Bryant, 
    996 F.3d 1243
     (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 
    142 S. Ct. 583
    (2021), is contrary to the First Step Act. After review, 2 we affirm.
    In 2018, Congress enacted the First Step Act, which, in part,
    amended 
    18 U.S.C. § 3582
    (c)(1)(A) to increase the use and
    1 Pub. L. No. 115-391, 
    132 Stat. 5194
    , 5239 (Dec. 21, 2018).
    2 We review a district court’s denial of a prisoner’s § 3582(c)(1)(A) motion for
    abuse of discretion. United States v. Harris, 
    989 F.3d 908
    , 911 (11th Cir. 2021).
    USCA11 Case: 21-12127          Date Filed: 07/26/2022    Page: 3 of 6
    21-12127                  Opinion of the Court                      3
    transparency of compassionate release of federal prisoners. See
    First Step Act § 603. The statute provides a court may not modify
    a term of imprisonment once it has been imposed except under
    certain circumstances. 
    18 U.S.C. § 3582
    (c). In the context of com-
    passionate release, the statute provides:
    [T]he court, upon . . . motion of the defendant after
    the defendant has fully exhausted all administrative
    rights to appeal a failure of the [BOP] to bring a mo-
    tion on the defendant’s behalf or the lapse of 30 days
    from the receipt of such a request by the warden of
    the defendant’s facility, whichever is earlier, may re-
    duce the term of imprisonment . . . after considering
    the factors set forth in [18 U.S.C.] section 3553(a) to
    the extent that they are applicable, if it finds that—ex-
    traordinary and compelling reasons warrant such a
    reduction.
    
    Id.
     § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i).
    The § 3553(a) factors include, among other things, the na-
    ture and circumstances of the defendant’s offense, his history and
    characteristics, and the need to protect the public from further
    crimes of the defendant. 
    18 U.S.C. § 3553
    (a). It is the defendant’s
    burden to show his circumstances warrant a reduction. 
    18 U.S.C. § 3582
    (c)(1)(A)(i).
    Brown does not adequately argue against the district court’s
    finding that the § 3553(a) factors did not merit his release. Alt-
    hough he argues a supervised release sentence was not available to
    USCA11 Case: 21-12127           Date Filed: 07/26/2022      Page: 4 of 6
    4                        Opinion of the Court                    21-12127
    him at his initial sentencing, he does not meaningfully challenge
    the district court’s finding the § 3553(a) factors did not merit his
    release, other than in a perfunctory way. See Sapuppo v. Allstate
    Floridian Ins., Co., 
    739 F.3d 678
    , 681 (11th Cir. 2014) (stating an
    appellant abandons a claim where he makes only a passing refer-
    ence to it or refers to it in a perfunctory manner without authority
    or argument in support). As such, arguments in this regard are
    therefore abandoned, and we may consider the issue forfeited. See
    United States v. Campbell, 
    26 F.4th 860
    , 873 (11th Cir. 2022) (en
    banc) (explaining forfeiture is the failure to make a timely assertion
    of a right, and the failure to raise an issue in an initial brief on direct
    appeal is treated as forfeiture of the issue). Further, to the extent
    the § 3553(a) factors determination was an alternate independent
    ground for denying his renewed motion, his failure to expressly
    challenge it means we can affirm for this reason. See Sapuppo, 739
    F.3d at 680 (stating when an appellant fails to challenge properly
    on appeal one of the grounds on which the district court based its
    judgment, he is deemed to have abandoned any challenge of that
    ground and the judgment is due to be affirmed).
    Even if Brown has sufficiently preserved his challenge to the
    § 3553(a) factors, we conclude that it still fails. The district court
    put great weight on Brown’s criminal history, his status as an
    armed career criminal, and the seriousness of his offense conduct,
    and it had the discretion to put great weight on those factors. See
    United States v. Croteau, 
    819 F.3d 1293
    , 1309 (11th Cir. 2016) (“The
    weight given to any specific § 3553(a) factor is committed to the
    USCA11 Case: 21-12127            Date Filed: 07/26/2022       Page: 5 of 6
    21-12127                  Opinion of the Court                             5
    sound discretion of the district court.”). It did not explicitly state it
    considered each factor or enumerate the factors, but it did not have
    to do so. See United States v. Kuhlman, 
    711 F.3d 1321
    , 1326 (11th
    Cir. 2013) (explaining generally, when a district court considers the
    § 3553(a) factors, it need not state on the record that it has explicitly
    considered each of them or discuss each of them). Additionally, his
    assertion the district court did not consider the kinds of sentences
    available at the time of his initial sentencing or his self-created re-
    lease plan did not meet his burden of showing the sentencing fac-
    tors merited relief. See 
    18 U.S.C. § 3582
    (c)(1)(A)(i).
    Because we affirm the district court’s consideration of the
    § 3553(a) factors, we need not address whether Brown identified an
    “extraordinary and compelling reason” for his release. 3 See United
    States v. Tinker, 
    14 F.4th 1234
    , 1237-38 (11th Cir. 2021) (stating the
    district court need not conduct the compassionate release analysis
    in any particular order and the absence of even one condition—the
    § 3553(a) factors favoring the release, extraordinary and compelling
    reasons for the release, and the reduction not endangering any per-
    son or the community—would foreclose a sentence reduction).
    Therefore, we affirm the decision of the district court.
    3 As we do not address Brown’s “extraordinary and compelling reason” argu-
    ments, we DENY the “Government’s Sealed Motion to Supplement the Rec-
    ord with Brown’s One Page Medical Record.” To the extent the motion is
    construed as including a request to seal the motion to supplement the record,
    the motion to seal is GRANTED.
    USCA11 Case: 21-12127   Date Filed: 07/26/2022   Page: 6 of 6
    6                 Opinion of the Court              21-12127
    AFFRIMED.
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 21-12127

Filed Date: 7/26/2022

Precedential Status: Non-Precedential

Modified Date: 7/26/2022