United States v. Perry , 429 F. App'x 287 ( 2011 )


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  •                               UNPUBLISHED
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
    No. 10-4467
    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
    Plaintiff – Appellee,
    v.
    DERRICK JOMELL PERRY, a/k/a Mel,
    Defendant – Appellant.
    Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
    District of North Carolina, at New Bern.   Louise W. Flanagan,
    Chief District Judge. (5:06-cr-00082-FL-1)
    Submitted:   April 28, 2011                   Decided:   May 13, 2011
    Before WILKINSON, AGEE, and KEENAN, Circuit Judges.
    Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
    Rudolph A. Ashton, III, MCCOTTER, ASHTON & SMITH, P.A., New
    Bern, North Carolina, for Appellant.     George E. B. Holding,
    United States Attorney, Jennifer P. May-Parker, Brian S. Meyers,
    Assistant United States Attorneys, Raleigh, North Carolina, for
    Appellee.
    Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
    PER CURIAM:
    A jury convicted Derrick Jomell Perry of distribution
    of more than five grams of crack cocaine, 
    21 U.S.C. § 841
    (a)(1)
    (2006)      (count    two),        possession        with    intent        to     distribute
    marijuana,        
    21 U.S.C. § 841
    (a)(1) (count five), and possession
    of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, 
    18 U.S.C. § 924
    (c)(1)(A)(i) (2006) (count six).                        Perry received a
    170-month        sentence     on     count     two,     a   concurrent           sixty-month
    sentence on count five, and a consecutive sixty-month sentence
    on   the     firearms       conviction,        for     a    total     of        230   months’
    imprisonment.        By published opinion, this court affirmed Perry’s
    convictions but vacated Perry’s sentence in light of Kimbrough
    v.   United      States,    
    552 U.S. 85
    ,   101-07    (2007),       in     which      the
    Supreme Court held that the 100:1 crack-to-powder cocaine ratio
    could be a basis for variance.                 United States v. Perry, 
    560 F.3d 246
     (4th Cir. 2009).               This court added, “[a]s a result, it is
    premature for us to consider Perry’s remaining challenge to the
    district      court’s       denial    of     his      additional      requests         for    a
    variance     below    the    suggested        guideline      range.”        
    Id. at 259
    .
    Perry      now    appeals     the     170-month        sentence       he        received     at
    resentencing. 1
    1
    Prior to resentencing, the district court granted Perry’s
    
    18 U.S.C. § 3582
    (c)(2) (2006) motion for a reduction of sentence
    (Continued)
    2
    On appeal, Perry argues the district court: (1) failed
    to   exercise      its    discretion     under     Kimbrough     and    reduce     his
    sentence based on the 100:1 crack-to-powder ratio; (2) erred in
    not granting a downward variance based on the use of acquitted
    conduct at sentencing to increase his sentence and the various
    arguments     he    proffered      in    consideration      of    the    
    18 U.S.C. § 3553
    (a) (2006) factors; (3) erred in not recalculating a lower
    criminal history category based on Amendment 709 of the U.S.
    Sentencing Guidelines (U.S.S.G.), which became effective after
    his original sentence; and (4) erred in imposing a consecutive
    five-year sentence despite the “exception clause” of 
    18 U.S.C. § 924
    (c)(1)(a).          The Government responds that the district court
    did not abuse its discretion in denying Perry’s motion for a
    downward variance and in sentencing him within the Sentencing
    Guidelines range.           It further contends that Perry’s arguments
    with respect to the consecutive § 924(c) sentence and Amendment
    709 were barred from consideration under the mandate rule.
    This        court     reviews       Perry’s     sentence      under     a
    deferential        abuse-of-discretion          standard.        Gall    v.   United
    States, 
    552 U.S. 38
    , 51 (2007).                 “The first step in this review
    requires    us     to    ensure   that   the     district   court      committed   no
    based on the amendment to the Guidelines for crack                            cocaine
    offenses and sentenced him to 197 months’ imprisonment.
    3
    significant procedural error, such as improperly calculating the
    Guidelines range.”            United States v. Osborne, 
    514 F.3d 377
    , 387
    (4th     Cir.     2008)      (internal         quotation         marks,     citations       and
    alterations       omitted).              We     then       consider       the     substantive
    reasonableness         of    the     sentence,         “tak[ing]      into       account    the
    totality of the circumstances.”                      Gall, 
    552 U.S. at 51
    .              If the
    sentence is within the Guidelines range, this court presumes on
    appeal that the sentence is reasonable.                            United States v. Go,
    
    517 F.3d 216
    , 218 (4th Cir. 2008); see Rita v. United States,
    
    551 U.S. 338
    ,       346-56       (2007)        (permitting         presumption        of
    reasonableness for within-Guidelines sentence).
    Perry        first        maintains         that     his         sentence      is
    substantively unreasonable because the district court refused to
    grant    a     variance      on    the    basis       of   the    100:1    crack-to-powder
    ratio.        In Kimbrough, the Supreme Court held that a district
    court was entitled to disagree with and to decline to follow the
    crack-to-powder ratio expressed in the Guidelines.                                 The Court
    has     since    reinforced         the       point    that       “district       courts    are
    entitled to reject and vary categorically from the crack-cocaine
    Guidelines        based       on     a        policy       disagreement          with      those
    Guidelines.”        Spears v. United States, 
    129 S. Ct. 840
    , 843-44
    (2009).        Perry received the benefit of the 2007 amendments to
    the    Sentencing       Guidelines         designed        to    address     the    crack-to-
    powder       cocaine    disparity.             The    record      further       reflects    the
    4
    district court amply understood its discretion in this case,
    stating that it recognized its discretion “to vary further to
    consider     the     defendant’s        motion        for    a    downward     departure.”
    Ultimately,        the     district       court        determined         there      was    no
    appropriate basis to further amend the judgment to reflect the
    disparity.     See United States v. Caldwell, 
    585 F.3d 1347
    , 1355
    (10th Cir. 2009) (upholding district court’s decision not to
    vary from crack-to-powder ratio because “[n]othing in Kimbrough
    mandates that a district court reduce a defendant’s sentence in
    order   to   eliminate          the   crack/powder          sentencing     disparities”),
    cert. denied, 
    131 S. Ct. 209
     (2010).                       Because the district court
    was not obligated to vary from the Guidelines range under these
    circumstances, we conclude that the district court’s decision
    not to grant a downward variance did not render Perry’s sentence
    substantively unreasonable.
    Perry       also    contends       the    district        court   should      have
    granted a downward variance based on his argument regarding the
    role acquitted conduct played in determining the drug quantity
    for which he was held responsible.                         To the extent Perry argues
    the impropriety of attributing acquitted conduct to him, his
    claim was expressly rejected by this court in his first appeal.
    See   United   States v.          Bell,     
    5 F.3d 64
    ,   66    (4th   Cir.     1993)
    (explaining        mandate       rule   forecloses           relitigation       of    issues
    expressly or impliedly decided by the appellate court).                               To the
    5
    extent Perry requested that the district court consider as a
    mitigating factor that ninety-three percent of the crack cocaine
    attributed   to    him     was   based     on    acquitted      conduct,    the     court
    specifically heard argument from both parties and determined a
    variance on that basis was not appropriate.                        We conclude the
    district court did not abuse its discretion in this regard.
    Next,        Perry    argues    the       district    court     abused    its
    discretion in denying his motion for a downward variance based
    on its arguments concerning the § 3553(a) factors; namely, his
    rehabilitation in prison, his efforts to be a good father, and
    his medical problems.             In his allocution, Perry informed the
    court of the classes he had taken in prison, his clean prison
    record,   and     his    acceptance       of    responsibility.          Importantly,
    Perry did not argue in his opening brief that the district court
    failed to consider his arguments or failed to give an adequate
    explanation of its sentence. 2             Rather, he simply asserts that a
    downward variance was well supported.
    The     record       reflects       the    district    court     heard    the
    parties’ arguments regarding all of the factors Perry contended
    2
    Perry argues in his reply brief that the district court
    did not adequately articulate its reasons for denying his
    variance motion, in violation of United States v. Carter, 
    564 F.3d 325
     (4th Cir. 2009). However, this court will not consider
    issues raised for the first time in a reply brief.        United
    States v. Brooks, 
    524 F.3d 549
    , 556 n.11 (4th Cir. 2008).
    6
    supported a downward variance.               In fact, the district court, in
    fashioning     Perry’s         sentence,    emphasized         the      nature   of   the
    offense, noted Perry’s four-year track record, and ordered that
    the judgment direct a medical assessment in light of Perry’s
    medical problems.           However, the district court clearly found a
    sentence     within      the      Guidelines     range    was     appropriate.         We
    conclude the       district        court   did   not     abuse    its    discretion    in
    denying the variance on this basis.
    Perry also argues that the district court erred in
    denying his objection to the consecutive sentence under § 924(c)
    and to the recalculation of his criminal history under Amendment
    709. Perry did not raise either of these arguments at his first
    sentencing    or    in      his    first   direct       appeal.         The   Government
    therefore     argues      that     consideration        of   these       arguments    was
    precluded by the mandate rule, which “forecloses relitigation of
    issues expressly or impliedly decided by the appellate court,”
    and   “litigation      of    issues    decided     by    the     district     court   but
    foregone on appeal.”           Bell, 
    5 F.3d at 66
    .
    We review de novo whether a post-mandate judgment of
    the district court “contravenes the mandate rule, or whether the
    mandate rule has been scrupulously and fully carried out.”                            Doe
    v. Chao, 
    511 F.3d 461
    , 464 (2007) (internal quotation marks and
    citation omitted).          The mandate rule prohibits lower courts with
    limited exceptions from considering questions that the mandate
    7
    of a higher court has laid to rest.                      
    Id. at 465
    .            The rule
    likewise restricts the district court’s authority on remand from
    the court of appeals.             “[A]ny issue conclusively decided by this
    [C]ourt on the first appeal is not remanded, and second, any
    issue that could have been but was not raised on appeal is
    waived and thus not remanded.”             
    Id.
     (citation omitted).
    At resentencing, Perry argued that the district court
    should       not    impose    a   consecutive,     statutorily-mandated           sixty-
    month prison term on count six, relying on the interpretation of
    the “except clause” given in United States v. Whitley, 
    529 F.3d 150
     (2d Cir. 2008), and United States v. Williams, 
    558 F.3d 166
    (2d Cir. 2009), abrogated by Abbott v. United States, 
    131 S. Ct. 18
     (2010). 3         Perry argued that he was already subject to a ten-
    year       mandatory    minimum    sentence      due    to   his   drug   conviction.
    Perry conceded below, however, that this claim was foreclosed by
    United States v. Studifin, 
    240 F.3d 415
     (4th Cir. 2001), in
    which      this     court    determined   that    the    “except    to    the    extent”
    language in § 924(c)(1) merely serves to connect the prefatory
    3
    Section 924(c)(1)(A) of Title 18 begins by stating
    “[e]xcept to the extent that a greater minimum sentence is
    otherwise provided by this subsection or by any other provision
    of law,” and then provides a mandatory minimum sentencing
    schedule depending upon certain conditions precedent. 
    18 U.S.C. § 924
    (c)(1)(A).
    8
    language    of       the    subsection        with       other     subdivisions         of   the
    chapter.    
    Id. at 423
    .               Perry nonetheless sought to preserve the
    issue given the Circuit split at the time.                           The district court
    denied the motion.
    We       conclude         this    argument       was    foreclosed          by   the
    mandate rule as Perry could have, but did not, raise it in his
    first appeal.          This argument was plainly available to Perry at
    that time, and he did not at resentencing rely on a change in
    the law or newly discovered evidence, or purport to correct a
    blatant error to prevent a serious injustice.                          See Doe, 
    511 F.3d at 467
    .    Because Perry could have raised this issue in his first
    appeal but did not, the district court did not have authority to
    consider this argument.                Even if the court could have considered
    this argument, it is foreclosed by the Supreme Court’s decision
    in   Abbott,     
    131 S. Ct. at 23
           (holding   “that   a     defendant      is
    subject    to    a   mandatory,         consecutive         sentence     for    a   §    924(c)
    conviction, and is not spared from that sentence by virtue of
    receiving a higher mandatory minimum on a different count of
    conviction.”).
    We also conclude that the district court was precluded
    from considering Amendment 709 to the U.S.S.G., which altered
    how the probation officer counts misdemeanor and petty offenses
    in   determining       the      criminal      history       category.          Although      the
    district court heard Perry’s arguments as to the Amendment and
    9
    its     applicability,         and    ultimately     denied     the     motion,      the
    calculation of Perry’s criminal history category was implicitly
    foreclosed by this court’s mandate.                  Furthermore, the district
    court was required to apply the Guidelines “that were in effect
    on the date of the previous sentencing of the defendant prior to
    the appeal,” which did not include Amendment 709.                             
    18 U.S.C. § 3742
    (g)(1) (2006).
    With respect to the establishment of the Guidelines
    range, we note that on remand the district removed the two-level
    enhancement          for   reckless    endangerment         initially    applied      to
    Perry’s sentence.            Perry did not challenge the enhancement in
    his   first     appeal.        Although    the    district    court     exceeded     the
    scope of the mandate in removing the two-point enhancement, the
    error inures to Perry’s benefit.                 See Greenlaw v. United States,
    
    554 U.S. 237
    , __, 
    128 S. Ct. 2559
    , 2564-67 (2008) (holding that,
    in the absence of a Government cross-appeal, an appellate court
    may   not      sua    sponte     correct   a     district    court    error     if   the
    correction would be to the defendant’s detriment).
    For the reasons stated, we affirm the district court’s
    amended judgment.            We dispense with oral argument because the
    facts    and    legal      contentions     are    adequately    presented       in   the
    materials       before     the    court    and    argument    would     not    aid   the
    decisional process.
    AFFIRMED
    10