United States v. Williams , 83 F. App'x 514 ( 2003 )


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  •                           UNPUBLISHED
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,              
    Plaintiff-Appellee,
    v.                               No. 03-4188
    TROY WILLIAMS,
    Defendant-Appellant.
    
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the Southern District of West Virginia, at Charleston.
    Joseph Robert Goodwin, District Judge.
    (CR-02-110)
    Submitted: November 21, 2003
    Decided: December 15, 2003
    Before TRAXLER and KING, Circuit Judges, and
    HAMILTON, Senior Circuit Judge.
    Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
    COUNSEL
    Tracy Weese, Shepherdstown, West Virginia, for Appellant. Kasey
    Warner, United States Attorney, R. Gregory McVey, Assistant United
    States Attorney, Huntington, West Virginia, for Appellee.
    Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See
    Local Rule 36(c).
    2                     UNITED STATES v. WILLIAMS
    OPINION
    PER CURIAM:
    Troy Williams was convicted after a bench trial of conspiracy to
    distribute cocaine base and distribution of cocaine base. Following
    trial, the Probation Office recommended finding that Williams was a
    career offender under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 4B1.1(a)
    (2000), based on two prior felony drug convictions. Williams
    objected, asserting that his prior convictions were related and should
    not have been counted separately and that application of the "inter-
    vening arrest" rule would violate the Ex Post Facto Clause. The dis-
    trict court overruled his objections, found that Williams was a career
    offender, and sentenced him to 210-months imprisonment. Williams
    now appeals the career offender determination.
    A defendant is a career offender if (1) he was at least eighteen at
    the time of the instant offense; (2) the instant offense of conviction
    is a violent or drug felony; and (3) the defendant has at least two prior
    violent or drug felony convictions. USSG § 4B1.1(a). Williams does
    not dispute the first two requirements; however, with regard to the
    third requirement, Williams contends that his prior convictions were
    related and should not be counted separately.
    Prior sentences imposed in related cases are to be treated as one
    sentence for purposes of USSG § 4B1.1. USSG §§ 4A1.2, comment.
    (n.3); 4B1.2, comment. (n.3). Nevertheless, prior sentences are not
    considered related if they were for offenses that were separated by an
    intervening arrest. USSG § 4A1.2, comment. (n.3). It is undisputed
    that Williams’ prior convictions were separated by an intervening
    arrest.
    However, Williams contends that application of the commentary to
    USSG § 4A1.2 to offenses committed before its November 1991
    effective date would violate the Ex Post Facto Clause. Williams’ prior
    convictions used to determine his career offender status were for
    offenses committed in 1989, prior to adoption of the commentary.
    Nonetheless, we find no ex post facto problem.
    UNITED STATES v. WILLIAMS                       3
    The provisions of § 4A1.2 and its commentary were enacted before
    Williams committed the instant offense of conviction, which is the
    relevant offense for an ex post facto analysis. See United States v.
    Allen, 
    886 F.2d 143
    , 146 (8th Cir. 1989) (so long as actual crime for
    which defendant is being sentenced occurred after the effective date
    of new statute, there is no ex post facto violation); see also Gryger
    v. Burke, 
    334 U.S. 728
    , 732 (1948) ("Nor do we think that the fact
    that one of the convictions that entered into the calculations by which
    petitioner became a fourth offender occurred before the Act [which
    enhanced the punishment for being a fourth time offender] was
    passed, makes the Act invalidly retroactive . . ."). Moreover, USSG
    § 1B1.11 instructs courts to apply the Guidelines in effect on the date
    of sentencing. However, if the guidelines violate the Ex Post Facto
    Clause, the court shall use the guidelines in effect "on the date that
    the offense of conviction was committed." USSG § 1B1.11(b)(1).
    Williams’ offense of conviction was committed in 2000-2001, and
    Williams was sentenced in 2003. Under § 1B1.11, the 1991 commen-
    tary of § 4A1.2 applies regardless of an ex post facto determination
    by the district court. See United States v. Brewster, 
    137 F.3d 853
    ,
    858-59 (5th Cir. 1998).
    It is undisputed that Williams’ two offenses were separated by an
    intervening arrest. Thus, they are not related, and as there is no ex
    post facto problem, they were properly counted separately in deter-
    mining that Williams was a career offender. Accordingly, we affirm
    Williams’ sentence. We deny Williams’ motions to substitute attor-
    neys and for a continuance. We dispense with oral argument, because
    the facts and legal contentions area adequately presented in the mate-
    rials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional pro-
    cess.
    AFFIRMED
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 03-4188

Citation Numbers: 83 F. App'x 514

Judges: Traxler, King, Hamilton

Filed Date: 12/15/2003

Precedential Status: Non-Precedential

Modified Date: 11/6/2024