United States v. Villalobos-Reyes

F I L E D
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MAR 1 2000
TENTH CIRCUIT PATRICK FISHER
Clerk
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
No. 99-2307
v. (D.C. No. CIV-99-1021-JC)
(New Mexico)
RAMON VILLALOBOS REYES,
Defendant-Appellant.
ORDER AND JUDGMENT *
Before SEYMOUR, Chief Judge, EBEL and BRISCOE, Circuit Judges.
After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined
unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist the determination of
this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The cause is
therefore ordered submitted without oral argument.
*
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the
doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel. The court
generally disfavors the citation of orders and judgments; nevertheless, an order
and judgment may be cited under the terms and conditions of 10th Cir. R. 36.3.
Petitioner Ramon Villalobos Reyes, appearing pro se, seeks a certificate of
appealability following the district court's denial of his petition for a writ of
habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, and subsequent denial of a certificate of
appealability under 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c). To obtain a certificate of appealability,
Mr. Villalobos Reyes must make "a substantial showing of the denial of a
constitutional right." 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2). We conclude that he has failed to
make this showing, and accordingly we deny his request for a certificate of
appealability and dismiss the appeal.
Mr. Villalobos Reyes pled guilty to a single-count indictment for
possession of over 135 kilograms of marijuana in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846and 841. He now claims that he received ineffective assistance of counsel
because his attorney failed to move for downward departure under the United
States Sentencing Guidelines (USSG), which he argues would have enabled the
court to impose a lesser sentence than the statutorily defined minimum sentence
he received.
The statutory minimum for Mr. Villalobos Reyes’ offense was 60 months.
Under the Guidelines, his prison term would have been 41-51 months. Because
the statutory minimum term was greater than the maximum term under the
Guidelines, the Court imposed the statutory minimum as required by USSG §
5G1.1(b). Mr. Villalobos Reyes had three criminal history points under USSG
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§ 4A1.1, making him ineligible for the “safety valve” exception to statutory
minimum sentences. See USSG 5C1.2(1) (court must impose statutory minimum
sentence if defendant has more than one criminal history point). He argues that
he served little time in jail for these three offenses, and that the three criminal
history points overstate the seriousness of his past criminal conduct. 1 On this
basis, he argues his attorney was ineffective for failing to move for a downward
sentencing departure pursuant to USSG § 4A1.3. See USSG § 4A1.3 (allowing
courts to depart from the otherwise applicable Guideline range when points in
criminal history category do not reflect the seriousness of defendant’s past
criminal conduct). Had his attorney done so, Mr. Villalobos Reyes contends the
court could have removed some of his criminal history points, making him
eligible for the “safety valve” exception of § 5C1.2 and a reduction in his
sentence to the shorter term recommended by the Guidelines.
Mr. Villalobos Reyes is incorrect. The commentary to the safety valve
1
The fact that Mr. Villalobos Reyes served little time in jail for these
offenses is irrelevant to the amount of criminal history points he should be
assessed for them. “[C]riminal history points are based on the sentence
pronounced, not the length of time actually served” for the purposes of applying
§ 4A1.1(c). USSG § 4A1.2, comment. (n.2); see also United States v. Pettit, 938
F.2d 175, 178 (10th Cir. 1991). Mr. Villalobos Reyes has not provided us with a
copy of his Pre-Sentence Report. Consequently, we do not know what these
offenses were or the length of his sentences as opposed to how much time he
actually served. However, this information is unnecessary for our disposition of
the case.
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provision clearly states that it refers to criminal history points “as determined
under § 4A1.1.” USSG § 5C1.2, comment. (n.1). Thus, even if Mr. Villalobos
Reyes’ attorney had requested and obtained a downward departure under § 4A1.3,
this would not have altered the original assessment of Mr. Villalobos Reyes’
criminal history points as determined under § 4A1.1. A downward sentencing
departure pursuant to § 4A1.3 does not affect the number of points in the
defendant’s criminal history category as determined by § 4A1.1.
This court has previously held that a reduction of a defendant’s criminal
history category under § 4A1.3 is irrelevant to his eligibility for the safety valve
provision. See United States v. Owensby, 188 F.3d 1244, 1246-47 (10th Cir.
1999) (“[W]hile U.S.S.G. § 4A1.3 affords a sentencing court discretion to
determine whether a criminal history category accurately reflects a defendant's
criminal history, nothing in U.S.S.G. § 4A1.1 suggests that the sentencing court
has any discretion with respect to the calculation of a defendant's criminal history
score.”) (citing United States v. Robinson, 158 F.3d 1291, 1294 (D.C. Cir. 1998),
cert. denied, 119 S. Ct. 1155 (1999). 2
2
Several other circuits addressing the issue have arrived at the same
conclusion. See United States v. Orozco, 121 F.3d 628, 630 (11th Cir. 1997);
United States v. Showalter, No. 96-4107, 1997 WL 1886 (4th Cir. Jan. 3, 1997)
(unpublished); United States v. Ward, No. 95-5967, 1996 WL 531017 (4th Cir.
Sept. 19, 1996) (unpublished); United States v. Moog, Nos. 95-3389, 95-3417,
95-4184, 1996 WL 431343 (8th Cir. Aug. 2, 1996) (unpublished); United States
v. Resto, 74 F.3d 22, 28 (2d Cir. 1996); United States v. Valencia-Andrade, 72
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Mr. Villalobos Reyes’ sentence would thus not have been affected by an
additional downward departure under the Guidelines, and a motion for such relief
would have been futile. The failure of Mr. Villalobos Reyes’ attorney to move
for such a downward departure was neither objectively unreasonable nor
prejudicial to Mr. Villalobos Reyes’ case, and therefore does not constitute
ineffective assistance of counsel under Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668(1984).
For these reasons, we DENY Mr. Villalobos Reyes a certificate of
appealability and DISMISS the appeal.
ENTERED FOR THE COURT
Stephanie K. Seymour
Chief Judge
F.3d 770, 774 (9th Cir. 1995).
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