United States v. John Floyd Mallory , 141 F. App'x 858 ( 2005 )

[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________ FILED
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
No. 03-14033 ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
July 22, 2005
Non-Argument Calendar
THOMAS K. KAHN
________________________ CLERK
D. C. Docket No. 03-00039-CR-3-RV
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
JOHN FLOYD MALLORY,
a.k.a. Terry Wayne Mallory,
a.k.a. Zaki Rauf Musheen,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Florida
_________________________
(July 22, 2005)
ON REMAND FROM THE SUPREME COURT
OF THE UNITED STATES
Before BIRCH, DUBINA and COX, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
The United States Supreme Court vacated the judgment of this court and
remanded this case for further consideration in light of United States v. Booker, 125
S. Ct. 738 (2005). Mallory v. United States, 125 S. Ct. 1338 (2005).
Following remand, we entered an order directing the parties to submit
supplemental letter briefs specifically addressing: (1) a description of where, when,
and how any Booker issue was first raised; and (2) any argument about whether and
how the Booker decision applies to the present case, and what action the court should
take. Defendant concedes that the first time a Booker argument was raised before this
court was in the Defendant’s July 29, 2004, petition for rehearing and rehearing en
banc. For that reason, the Government argues, any Booker issue Defendant may have
raised has been waived. Nonetheless, Defendant asks us to vacate and remand this
case for resentencing.
Defense counsel first filed a brief in this court pursuant to Anders v. California,
386 U.S. 738, 87 S. Ct. 1396 (1967), raising three issues: (1) whether the district
court properly denied the Motion to Dismiss; (2) whether the district court erred by
denying a motion to back strike a juror; and (3) whether improper remarks by the
prosecutor in closing arguments prejudiced Defendant’s substantive rights. We
denied the motion and ordered a merits brief to be filed as to the third issue. This
court affirmed Defendant’s conviction on July 23, 2004. A petition for rehearing and
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rehearing en banc was filed on July 28, 2004, arguing that Blakely v. Washington, 124
S. Ct. 2531 (2004), required that Defendant be resentenced. That petition was
denied.
On appeal, a party must submit all issues in his or her initial brief and may not
raise new issues in supplemental briefing. See United States v. Levy, 379 F.3d 1241,
1242 (11th Cir.), reh’g en banc denied, 391 F.3d 1327 (11th Cir. 2004). The initial
brief here, however, was filed pursuant to Anders v. California. Under Anders, this
court is instructed to independently review the record for any non-frivolous issue.
Anders, 386 U.S. at 744; 87 S. Ct. at 1400; McCoy v. Newsome, 953 F.2d 1252, 1256
n.2 (11th Cir. 1992) (“After providing the indigent defendant the opportunity to raise
any points in his favor, the court then makes a full examination of the trial
proceedings to determine whether the appeal is frivolous.”). In light of this court’s
obligation to independently review the record, we do not hold that the Defendant
waived any Booker argument on the ground that none was raised in his Anders brief
before this court.
Having determined that Defendant did not waive any Booker argument on
appeal, the next question is what standard of review we are to apply. Where a
defendant makes a timely objection in the district court, we review any Booker issue
for harmless error. United States v. Paz, 405 F.3d 946, 948 (11th Cir. 2005). If the
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defendant failed to make a timely objection, review is only for plain error. United
States v. Rodriguez, 398 F.3d 1291, 1298 (11th Cir. 2005). Here, the only
constitutional objection Defendant made in the district court came after the probation
officer filed her first revised Pre-Sentence Report (“PSR”). She had determined,
among other things, that Defendant should be classified as an armed career criminal
under 18 U.S.C. § 924(e). Defendant filed written objections arguing, in part, that the
armed career criminal enhancement was unconstitutional in light of Apprendi v. New
Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S. Ct. 2348 (2000). The probation officer subsequently
concluded that the PSR was erroneous, and deleted the armed career criminal
enhancement on the ground that the predicate offense did not exist. The Apprendi
issue was not addressed. Defendant made no further constitutional objection to his
sentence. Thus, no constitutional objection was raised by Defendant as to the
sentence imposed. Because we conclude that Defendant did not properly raise any
Booker issue before the district court, our review is only for plain error.
Under plain error review, Mallory bears the burden of establishing (1) error,
(2) that is plain, which (3) affects his substantial rights. Rodriguez, 398 F.3d at 1298.
If these three conditions are met, the court may exercise its discretion to notice a
forfeited error, but only if (4) the error seriously affects the fairness, integrity, or
public reputation of judicial proceedings. Id. Though Defendant may be able to
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satisfy the first two prongs of the plain error test, he cannot satisfy the third prong.
In order to do so, the Defendant cannot rely on speculation that the judge might have
imposed a different sentence, or that he might fare better on remand. Id. at 1301.
Rather, he must demonstrate “a reasonable probability that if the district court had
considered the guidelines range it arrived at using extra-verdict enhancements as
merely advisory, instead of mandatory, and had taken into account any otherwise
unconsidered § 3553 factors, the court would have imposed a lesser sentence than it
did.” Id. at 1302. Defendant cannot point to anything in the record that suggests the
court would have imposed a lesser sentence here. In fact, the record affirmatively
shows that the district court would have imposed the same sentence regardless of the
then-mandatory nature of the guidelines. (R.5-41 at 14.) We find no plain error, and
our previous judgment affirming Defendant’s conviction and sentence is therefore
reinstated.
JUDGMENT AFFIRMING CONVICTION AND SENTENCE REINSTATED.
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