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[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
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No. 20-10717
Non-Argument Calendar
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D.C. Docket No. 8:08-cr-00296-SDM-JSS-1
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
TERRANCE D. OWENS,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
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(December 8, 2020)
Before MARTIN, LUCK, and LAGOA, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Terrance Owens appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to reduce
his sentence under the First Step Act of 2018. After careful review, we conclude
the district court did not violate Owens’s due process rights when it decided his
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First Step Act motion without holding a hearing at which he was present. The
district court also did not abuse its discretion in denying his motion. We therefore
affirm the district court’s decision.
I
In 2008, Owens pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm in
violation of
18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) and conspiracy to possess with intent to
distribute cocaine base in violation of
21 U.S.C. § 846. The district court
determined the guideline range to be 262- to 327-months imprisonment. The
district court sentenced Owens to 210-months imprisonment, consisting of 120
months for the felon in possession conviction and 210 months for the conspiracy to
distribute cocaine conviction, running concurrently.
After passage of the First Step Act, the probation office filed a First Step Act
memo in Owens’s case. The probation office noted that the district court
previously varied downward by 52 months, or 19.84 percent, from the low end of
the guideline range. A comparable variance from the low end of the amended
guideline range would provide for a sentence of 150-months imprisonment. The
probation office observed that Owens completed over 1,000 hours of education
classes, earned his GED while in custody, and completed vocational training in a
variety of areas. However, it also noted ten disciplinary infractions, including
introducing drugs into the prison and fighting with another prisoner. The probation
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office said it was “particularly troubled by the defendant’s conduct while in the
Bureau of Prisons.”
Owens then filed a motion under section 404 of the First Step Act and
18
U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(B) to reduce his total sentence from 210-months imprisonment
to 150-months imprisonment or time served. The government opposed Owens’s
motion for reduction of his total sentence. The district court denied Owens’s
motion. It noted the probation office’s statement that it was “particularly troubled
by the defendant’s conduct while in the Bureau of Prisons.” The district court also
said the government “argue[d] convincingly that the defendant’s ‘post-sentencing
conduct militates against granting [the defendant] a discretionary sentence
reduction.’” An accompanying document to the district court’s order stated that
Owens’s “earlier sentence was a reasonable sentence.” This is Owens’s appeal.
II
We review de novo constitutional questions. United States v. Castillo,
899
F.3d 1208, 1212 (11th Cir. 2018). We review for abuse of discretion the denial of
a motion for a reduced sentence under the First Step Act. United States v. Jones,
962 F.3d 1290, 1296 (11th Cir. 2020).
III
Owens raises two issues for our review. First, Owens says his due process
rights were violated because the district court decided his First Step Act motion
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based on post-judgment facts proffered without a hearing at which he was present.
Second, Owens says the district court abused its discretion in denying his First
Step Act motion. We address each issue in turn.
A
We begin with Owens’s assertion that his due process rights were violated
when the district court decided his First Step Act motion without a hearing at
which he was present. “The Due Process Clause grants criminal defendants a
‘right to be present at any stage of the criminal proceeding that is critical to its
outcome if his presence would contribute to the fairness of the procedure.’”
United States v. Thomason,
940 F.3d 1166, 1171 (11th Cir. 2019) (quoting
Kentucky v. Stincer,
482 U.S. 730, 745,
107 S. Ct. 2658, 2667 (1987)). Owens
argues that the district court’s consideration of his First Step Act motion was a
“critical stage” where he had the right to be present. As such, he says the district
court violated his due process rights by deciding his motion without a hearing with
him in attendance.
Owens’s argument is foreclosed by our precedent. In United States v.
Denson,
963 F.3d 1080 (11th Cir. 2020), a panel of our Court considered “whether
Denson had a legal right to be present at a hearing before the district court ruled on
his [First Step Act] motion.”
Id. at 1086. In addressing Denson’s reliance on
18
U.S.C. § 3582(c), the panel first observed that Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure
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43 expressly provides that Denson’s presence was not required at proceedings
involving the reduction of a sentence under section 3582(c).
Id. at 1087. The
panel then recognized “the right to be present under Rule 43 is at least as broad as
the right under the Due Process Clause” and thus “Denson’s due process claim also
fails.”
Id. at 1087–88. “In short, because Rule 43 did not require Denson’s
presence at a § 3582(c)(1)(B) sentence reduction hearing, Denson had no
corresponding due process right to be present at such a hearing.” Id. at 1088.
The same reasoning applies to Owens’s case. Like Denson, Owens relies on
18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(B). Rule 43 states that a “defendant need not be present”
when a “proceeding involves the correction or reduction of sentence under Rule 35
or
18 U.S.C. § 3582(c).” Fed. R. Crim. P. 43(b)(4). “[T]he right to be present
under Rule 43 is at least as broad as the right under the Due Process Clause.”
Denson, 963 F.3d at 1087–88. Accordingly, Owens’s due process rights were not
violated when the district court decided his motion without a hearing at which he
was present.
B
We now consider Owens’s assertion that the district court abused its
discretion in denying his First Step Act motion. District courts ordinarily lack the
inherent authority to modify a term of imprisonment but may do so when a statute
expressly permits it. Jones, 962 F.3d at 1297; see
18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(B). The
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First Step Act does just that: it “expressly permits district courts to reduce a
previously imposed term of imprisonment.” Jones, 962 F.3d at 1297. Although
the First Step Act provides district courts with authority to reduce a sentence, they
are “not required to do so.” Id. at 1304. Rather, “[d]istrict courts have wide
latitude to determine whether and how to exercise their discretion.” Id. District
courts thus “may consider all the relevant factors, including the statutory
sentencing factors” under
18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).
Id. The parties here agree that the
district court needed to weigh the section 3553(a) factors. Those factors include,
among other things, the offense’s nature and circumstances; the defendant’s history
and characteristics; and the need to reflect the seriousness of the offense, promote
respect for the law, afford adequate deterrence, and protect the public from further
crimes of the defendant.
18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).
When weighing the section 3553(a) factors, a “district court should set forth
enough information to satisfy the reviewing court of the fact that it has considered
the parties’ arguments and has a reasoned basis for making its decision.” United
States v. Kuhlman,
711 F.3d 1321, 1326 (11th Cir. 2013). However, it is not
necessary for it “to state on the record that it has explicitly considered each of the
§ 3553(a) factors or to discuss each of the § 3553(a) factors.” Id. (quotation marks
omitted). “The weight given to any specific § 3553(a) factor is committed to the
sound discretion of the district court.” United States v. Croteau,
819 F.3d 1293,
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1309 (11th Cir. 2016). Even so, a “district court abuses its discretion when it
(1) fails to afford consideration to relevant factors that were due significant weight,
(2) gives significant weight to an improper or irrelevant factor, or (3) commits a
clear error of judgment in considering the proper factors.” United States v. Irey,
612 F.3d 1160, 1189 (11th Cir. 2010) (en banc) (quotation marks omitted).
Here, the district court denied Owens’s motion for a reduced sentence under
the First Step Act. In doing so, it noted that the probation office was “particularly
troubled by the defendant’s conduct while in the Bureau of Prisons” and that the
government “argue[d] convincingly that the defendant’s ‘post-sentencing conduct
militates against granting [the defendant] a discretionary sentence reduction.’” The
court also said that Owens’s “earlier sentence was a reasonable sentence.” Owens
argues the district court abused its discretion in denying his motion. We see no
abuse of discretion. The district court referenced the parties’ filings (which
addressed the various section 3553(a) factors) and acknowledged some of their
arguments, showing us that “it has considered the parties’ arguments and has a
reasoned basis for making its decision.” Kuhlman, 711 F.3d at 1326. Although
Owens says “[t]here is no evidence that the district court [had] considered any
additional § 3553(a) sentencing factors,” Owens fails to explain how other section
3553(a) factors were “relevant” and “due significant weight.” See Irey,
612 F.3d
at 1189. And while the district court did not discuss all of the section 3553(a)
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factors, it was not required to do so. See Kuhlman, 711 F.3d at 1326. To the
extent Owens contests the district court’s reasons for its decision, he does not
explain why those reasons were “improper or irrelevant.” See Irey,
612 F.3d at
1189. Nonetheless, we view Owens’s post-sentencing conduct and the
reasonableness of his earlier sentence as relevant, and the weight the district court
gave to those considerations is committed to the court’s sound discretion. Croteau,
819 F.3d at 1309. Owens also asserts that, in addition to considering the section
3553(a) factors, the district court needed to “impose a sentence sufficient, but not
greater than necessary to accomplish the goals of sentencing.” But Owens does
not articulate how the court’s decision was greater than necessary to accomplish
the goals of sentencing. In any event, the court’s decision as to Owens’s sentence
echoed the concerns expressed by the probation office and the government
regarding Owens’s post-sentence conduct.
IV
Owens’s due process rights were not violated when the district court decided
his First Step Act motion without a hearing at which he was present. The district
court also did not abuse its discretion in denying Owens’s motion. We therefore
AFFIRM the district court’s decision.
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