United States v. Antwan Boyd ( 2022 )


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  • USCA11 Case: 21-11299      Date Filed: 10/06/2022   Page: 1 of 3
    [DO NOT PUBLISH]
    In the
    United States Court of Appeals
    For the Eleventh Circuit
    ____________________
    No. 21-11299
    Non-Argument Calendar
    ____________________
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
    Plaintiff-Appellee,
    versus
    ANTWAN BOYD,
    Defendant-Appellant.
    ____________________
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the Middle District of Florida
    D.C. Docket No. 8:08-cr-00251-JSM-AAS-1
    ____________________
    USCA11 Case: 21-11299       Date Filed: 10/06/2022    Page: 2 of 3
    2                     Opinion of the Court                21-11299
    ON REMAND FROM THE
    SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
    Before JORDAN, NEWSOM, and GRANT, Circuit Judges.
    PER CURIAM:
    Antwan Boyd filed a motion to reduce his sentence under
    § 404(b) of the First Step Act of 2018. He argued, among other
    things, that a reduction in his sentence of imprisonment was
    warranted because intervening changes in the U.S. Sentencing
    Guidelines meant that he would no longer qualify as a career
    offender if he were sentenced today. In response, the government
    cited our opinion in United States v. Denson for the proposition
    that the First Step Act does not authorize courts “to change the
    defendant’s original guidelines calculations that are unaffected by
    sections 2 and 3” of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 or “to reduce
    the defendant’s sentence on the covered offense based on changes
    in the law beyond those mandated by” those sections. 
    963 F.3d 1080
    , 1089 (11th Cir. 2020), abrogated in part by Concepcion v.
    United States, 
    142 S. Ct. 2389
     (2022). The district court granted
    Boyd’s motion in part and reduced his term of supervised release.
    But the court declined to reduce his term of imprisonment below
    the 240-month sentence he is currently serving. Boyd appealed,
    and we affirmed.
    Boyd petitioned the United States Supreme Court for a writ
    of certiorari. The Supreme Court granted his petition, vacated our
    judgment, and remanded for further consideration in light of its
    USCA11 Case: 21-11299        Date Filed: 10/06/2022     Page: 3 of 3
    21-11299               Opinion of the Court                        3
    opinion in Concepcion v. United States, 
    142 S. Ct. 2389
     (2022).
    Boyd v. United States, 
    142 S. Ct. 2901
     (2022).
    In Concepcion, the Court held that “the First Step Act allows
    district courts to consider intervening changes of law or fact in
    exercising their discretion to reduce a sentence pursuant to the
    First Step Act.” 142 S. Ct. at 2404. And because district courts must
    “consider nonfrivolous arguments presented by the parties, the
    First Step Act requires district courts to consider intervening
    changes when parties raise them.” Id. at 2396.
    The district court’s order denying Boyd’s First Step Act
    motion in part indicates that the court considered the parties’
    arguments, including Boyd’s argument that changes in the
    Guidelines weighed in favor of a sentence reduction. But the order
    does not indicate whether the court understood that it was
    authorized to reduce the sentence of an otherwise-eligible
    defendant based on intervening changes in the law. We therefore
    vacate the district court’s judgment and remand this case for
    further consideration in light of Concepcion.
    Boyd’s motion for summary reversal is GRANTED IN
    PART to the extent that he asks us to vacate the district court’s
    judgment and remand for further consideration. We DENY the
    motion to the extent that it seeks summary reversal of the district
    court’s judgment.
    VACATED and REMANDED.
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 21-11299

Filed Date: 10/6/2022

Precedential Status: Non-Precedential

Modified Date: 10/6/2022