United States v. Grady Myers

NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FILED
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
AUG 23 2017
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 16-50080
Plaintiff-Appellee, D.C. No.
2:14-cr-00338-SJO-62
v.
GRADY MYERS, AKA Too Tall, MEMORANDUM*
Defendant-Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Central District of California
S. James Otero, District Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted August 10, 2017
Pasadena, California
Before: REINHARDT, KOZINSKI, and CHRISTEN, Circuit Judges.
To the extent a plea agreement is capable of more than one interpretation, we
“constru[e] any ambiguities in the defendant’s favor.” United States v. Heredia,
768 F.3d 1220, 1230 (9th Cir. 2014). Accordingly, the government breached
paragraph 30 of the plea agreement because it argued for the higher drug quantity,
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
at several points, thereby encouraging the court to impose a higher sentence. In
light of this breach, “we must remand this matter to a different judge, although in
doing so we ‘intend no criticism of the district judge by this action, and none
should be inferred.’” United States v. Whitney, 673 F.3d 965, 976 (9th Cir. 2012)
(quoting United States v. Johnson, 187 F.3d 1129, 1136 n.7 (9th Cir. 1999)).
A minimal or minor participant adjustment under § 3B1.2 is available if the
defendant was substantially less culpable than his co-participants. United States v.
Cantrell, 433 F.3d 1269, 1283 (9th Cir. 2006). The district court failed to compare
Myers’s conduct to that of his co-conspirators. That was error and, on remand, the
district court shall reconsider Myers’s eligibility for a mitigating role reduction.
We vacate Myers’s sentence and remand for re-sentencing before a different
district court judge.
VACATED and REMANDED.
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