United States v. Kelley

F I L E D
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
JAN 7 2000
FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT
PATRICK FISHER
Clerk
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v. No. 99-3241
(D.C. No. 96-40055-SAC)
ROGER KELLEY, also known as Tito, (D. Kan.)
Defendant-Appellant.
ORDER AND JUDGMENT *
Before TACHA, McKAY, and PORFILIO, Circuit Judges.
After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined
unanimously to grant the parties’ request for a decision on the briefs without oral
argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(f); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case 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This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the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, and 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.
Defendant Roger Kelley pled guilty to a superseding information charging
him with one count of possession with intent to distribute approximately thirty
grams of methamphetamine. See 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). Prior to sentencing, he
moved for a downward departure from the applicable Guideline range on the basis
of extraordinary family circumstances. The government conceded that the
sentencing court could, in principle, grant such a departure, but argued that this
was not an appropriate case for a favorable exercise of the court’s discretion in
this regard. The court agreed, denied the motion, and sentenced defendant to
thirty-six months’ imprisonment followed by three years’ supervised release.
Defendant now appeals the denial of his motion for downward departure.
The government urges us to dismiss the appeal, citing the general rule that
a discretionary refusal to depart from the applicable Guideline range is not subject
to appellate review. See United States v. Fortier, 180 F.3d 1217, 1231 (10th Cir.
1999); see, e.g., United States v. Williamson, 53 F.3d 1500, 1529-30 (10th Cir.
1995) (rejecting appeal from refusal to depart on family-circumstance grounds).
Only if the sentencing court erroneously concluded that it had no legal authority
to depart--and unambiguously expressed that misunderstanding--may we review
its decision. Fortier, 180 F.3d at 1230 (noting “we treat ambiguous statements
made by district court judges as though the judge was aware of his or her legal
authority to depart but chose instead, in an exercise of discretion, not to depart”).
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The following comments from sentencing provide no basis here for
invoking the limited exception to the general rule barring appellate review:
[T]he ordinary rule is that family ties and responsibilities and
community ties are not ordinarily relevant in determining whether a
sentence should be outside the applicable guidelines. And a district
court may depart only if the factor is present to an exceptional degree
or in some other way to make the case different from the ordinary
case where the factor is present. . . . [F]or the purpose of this case, I
would indicate that I believe that a downward departure might be
possible, but I do not feel that it’s appropriate in this case.
****
[Defendant] has received a very significant break due to the plea
agreement reached in this case. Ordinarily we’d be looking at a
sentence of 150 months. . . . I’m not going to depart downward in
this case. Although, as I say, I think it might be possible, but it’s not
appropriate.
Appellant’s App. at 119-20. These remarks reflect a proper understanding of the
court’s discretionary authority in this context, see United States v. Archuleta, 128
F.3d 1446, 1449 (10th Cir. 1997), and “evince a conscious decision by the
sentencing court to deny the request for a downward departure because the
particular facts of [defendant’s] situation did not warrant it.” Williamson, 53
F.3d at 1530. We have no jurisdiction to review that decision. See id.-3-
The appeal is DISMISSED.
Entered for the Court
John C. Pofilio
Senior Circuit Judge
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