United States v. Jolly ( 2021 )

Case: 20-10698 Document: 00515824375 Page: 1 Date Filed: 04/16/2021
United States Court of Appeals
for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
FILED
April 16, 2021
No. 20-10698 Lyle W. Cayce
Summary Calendar Clerk
United States of America,
Plaintiff—Appellee,
versus
Christopher Jolly,
Defendant—Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Texas
USDC No. 5:06-CR-23-2
Before Higginbotham, Jones, and Costa, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam:*
Christopher Jolly filed a motion for sentence reduction under the First
Step Act of 2018. In response, the district court reduced his sentence from
262 months to 240 months. This was the second time the court had reduced
Jolly’s sentence. His original sentence was 327 months, but the district court
*
Pursuant to 5th Circuit Rule 47.5, the court has determined that this
opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited
circumstances set forth in 5th Circuit Rule 47.5.4.
Case: 20-10698 Document: 00515824375 Page: 2 Date Filed: 04/16/2021
No. 20-10698
had reduced that to 262 months in 2016 based on Amendment 782 of the
Sentencing Guidelines.
On appeal, Jolly argues that his First Step Act motion should have
resulted in a greater reduction. In particular, he contends that the district
court abused its discretion when it considered his prior sentence reduction.
According to Jolly, consideration of the earlier reduction violated United
States v. Hegwood, 934 F.3d 414, 418 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 140 S. Ct. 285
(2019), by considering a legal change that occurred subsequent to his original
sentencing.
We generally review a district court’s decision whether to reduce a
sentence pursuant to the First Step Act for abuse of discretion. United States
v. Jackson, 945 F.3d 315, 319 (5th Cir. 2019), cert. denied, 140 S. Ct. 2699
(2020). A resentencing court has broad discretion because the First Step Act
does not require a sentence reduction even if the defendant is eligible for one.
Id. at 321. However, “[a] court abuses its discretion when the court makes
an error of law or bases its decision on a clearly erroneous assessment of the
evidence.” United States v. Larry, 632 F.3d 933, 936 (5th Cir. 2011) (internal
quotation marks and citation omitted).
Jolly correctly states that the district court, when resentencing an
individual under the First Step Act, may “alter[] the relevant legal landscape
only by the changes mandated by the 2010 Fair Sentencing Act.” Hegwood,
934 F.3d at 418. However, Hegwood does not support the proposition that a
district court may not consider its own prior rulings in a particular case. See
id. at 418-19. Jolly has not established that the district court abused its broad
discretion to grant or deny a First Step Act motion. See Jackson, 945 F.3d at
319, 321.
AFFIRMED.
2