USA v. Raul Perez

[DO NOT PUBLISH]
In the
United States Court of Appeals
For the Eleventh Circuit
____________________
No. 22-13873
Non-Argument Calendar
____________________
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
RAUL PEREZ,
Defendant-Appellant.
____________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Florida
D.C. Docket No. 1:21-cr-20127-JLK-1
____________________
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2 Opinion of the Court 22-13873
Before R OSENBAUM, G RANT and DUBINA , Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Appellant Raul Perez appeals his 217-month total imprison-
ment sentence for carjacking that resulted in serious bodily injury,
in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2119(2), and brandishing or discharging
a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, in violation of 18
U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(ii) and (iii). He first argues the district court
clearly erred by denying him an acceptance of responsibility adjust-
ment under U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1(a) based on the finding that his inabil-
ity to remember the crime, due to a car accident immediately after
the offense that rendered him unconscious, was inconsistent with
accepting responsibility. Perez further argues the district court
abused its discretion and imposed a substantively unreasonable
sentence because it failed to give due weight to his remorsefulness
and mitigating personal history. Having read the parties’ briefs and
reviewed the record, we affirm Perez’s sentence.
I.
We review for clear error a district court’s findings regarding
an acceptance of responsibility reduction under U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1.
United States v. Tejas, 868 F.3d 1242, 1247 (11th Cir. 2017). We will
not disturb a district court’s findings under clear error review “un-
less we are left with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake
has been committed.” United States v. Cruickshank, 837 F.3d 1182,
1192 (11th Cir. 2016) (quotation marks omitted). Further, we rarely
find clear error when the basis of the district court’s decision is
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22-13873 Opinion of the Court 3
supported by the record and does not misapply the law. United
States v. De Varon, 175 F.3d 930, 945 (11th Cir. 1999) (en banc).
Because the sentencing judge is in a unique position to eval-
uate a defendant’s acceptance of responsibility, the determination
of the sentencing judge is “entitled to great deference on review.”
Tejas, 868 F.3d at 1247; see U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1, comment. (n.5). The
district court’s decision on acceptance of responsibility will not be
overturned unless the facts in the record clearly establish that the
defendant accepted personal responsibility. United States v. Sawyer,
180 F.3d 1319, 1323 (11th Cir. 1999). The defendant bears the bur-
den of proving he clearly accepted responsibility. Id. Further, while
a district court’s decision to grant or deny an adjustment is subject
to great deference, the district court errs if it believes it lacks au-
thority to grant the adjustment as a matter of law. United States v.
Mathews, 874 F.3d 698, 709-10 (11th Cir. 2017).
A two-level decrease to the offense level applies “[i]f the de-
fendant clearly demonstrates acceptance of responsibility for his
offense.” U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1(a). An additional one-level decrease ap-
plies if the defendant qualifies for a decrease under § 3E1.1(a), the
offense level determined before application of such a decrease is 16
or greater, and the government has filed a motion stating that the
defendant “has assisted authorities in the investigation or prosecu-
tion of his own misconduct by timely notifying authorities of his
intention to enter a plea of guilty, thereby permitting the govern-
ment to avoid preparing for trial and permitting the government
and the court to allocate their resources efficiently.” Id. § 3E1.1(b).
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4 Opinion of the Court 22-13873
“Entry of a plea of guilty prior to the commencement of
trial combined with truthfully admitting the conduct comprising
the offense of conviction, and truthfully admitting or not falsely
denying any additional relevant conduct for which he is accounta-
ble under § 1B1.3 . . . will constitute significant evidence of ac-
ceptance of responsibility . . . .” Id., comment. (n.3). However,
“significant evidence” of acceptance may be outweighed by con-
duct that is inconsistent with accepting responsibility, and a defend-
ant must present more than just a guilty plea to meet his burden of
establishing acceptance of responsibility. Id.
Ultimately, § 3E1.1 “is intended to reward those defendants
who affirmatively acknowledge their crimes and express genuine
remorse for the harm caused by their actions.” United States v. Car-
roll, 6 F.3d 735, 740 (11th Cir. 1993). The commentary provides a
non-exhaustive list of factors to be considered when determining
if a defendant accepted responsibility, including whether he has vol-
untarily paid restitution before adjudication of guilt, voluntarily
surrendered to authorities promptly after committing the offense,
affirmatively denied relevant conduct, or voluntarily withdrew
from criminal conduct. U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1, comment. (n.1). The dis-
trict court may consider a wide range of evidence in determining
if the defendant recognizes the wrongfulness of his conduct, has
remorse for the consequences, and is willing to turn away from
that conduct. United States v. Scroins, 880 F.2d 1204, 1215-16 (11th
Cir. 1989).
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22-13873 Opinion of the Court 5
Perez contends on appeal that the district court clearly erred
by failing to grant him an acceptance of responsibility adjustment.
Perez entered a guilty plea pursuant to North Carolina v. Alford, 400
U.S. 25, 37-38, 91 S. Ct. 160, 167-68 (1970) (a guilty plea where the
defendant maintains a claim of innocence to the underlying crimi-
nal conduct charged but admits that sufficient evidence exists to
convict him of the offense). Perez claims that he entered the Alford
plea because, due to the memory loss he sustained from the brain
injury he suffered following a car accident that occurred after the
commission of the carjacking offense, he could not recall the spe-
cifics of the offense. Perez argues that despite the memory loss, he
did not dispute the government’s factual allegations and conceded
that the government could prove the elements of the offense at
trial, and he did not put the government to its burden of proof at
trial. For these reasons, and the fact that he expressed remorse for
his actions at sentencing, Perez contends that the district court
should have granted him an adjustment for acceptance of respon-
sibility.
The government responds that the district court did not
clearly err, and this court should give great deference to the district
court’s determinations. The government notes that Perez’s story
changed from his first forensic evaluation where he admitted to the
crime to his change of plea hearing where he claimed not to re-
member the facts of the crime. Although an Alford plea does not
preclude a finding of acceptance of responsibility, it is a relevant
factor in the determination. See United States v. Rodriguez, 905 F.2d
372, 374 (11th Cir. 1990) (noting that nothing in the Guidelines
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6 Opinion of the Court 22-13873
precludes a district court from considering whether a defendant
entered a qualified guilty plea when analyzing whether he or she
accepted responsibility). See also United States v. Coe, 79 F.3d 126,
127-28 (11th Cir. 1996) (recognizing that a defendant’s failure to ad-
mit to relevant offense conduct because of a lack of memory can
preclude the award of an acceptance of responsibility reduction).
Thus, the government claims that Perez cannot satisfy his burden
of demonstrating that he clearly accepted responsibility for his
crimes.
We conclude from the record that the district court did not
clearly err when it denied the acceptance-of-responsibility adjust-
ment under U.S.S.G. § 3E1.1(a). The district court based its deci-
sion on Perez’s inability to concede to the facts of the crime fully
and completely and the legal arguments presented by the parties
and discussed at length during the sentencing hearing. Although
Perez pled guilty, he did not admit to discharging a firearm in public
and causing a severe accident by leading police on a car chase. Even
though he expressed remorse during his allocution, Perez only
apologized for his inability to remember the incident. Further, Pe-
rez’s guilty plea did not entitle him to an acceptance of responsibil-
ity reduction as a matter of right, and there is no indication that the
district court believed it did not have the authority to grant the ad-
justment, Mathews, 874 F.3d at 709-10.
Perez had the burden of demonstrating that he had clearly
accepted responsibility beyond just his guilty plea. Sawyer, 180 F.3d
at 1323. On this record, we cannot say that the district court clearly
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22-13873 Opinion of the Court 7
erred in finding that Perez did not qualify for an acceptance of re-
sponsibility reduction, and we affirm as to this determination.
II.
We review the substantive reasonableness of sentencing de-
cisions under the deferential abuse-of-discretion standard. Gall v.
United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51, 128 S. Ct. 586, 597 (2007). The party
challenging the sentence bears the burden of showing that the sen-
tence is unreasonable based on the record, the factors listed in §
3553(a), and the substantial deference afforded sentencing courts.
United States v. Rosales-Bruno, 789 F.3d 1249, 1256 (11th Cir. 2015).
Under this standard, we may affirm a sentence even though we
would have imposed a different sentence had we been in the district
court’s position. United States v. Irey, 612 F.3d 1160, 1189 (11th Cir.
2010) (en banc). A district court abuses its discretion at sentencing
when it “(1) fails to afford consideration to relevant factors that
were due significant weight, (2) gives significant weight to an im-
proper or irrelevant factor, or (3) commits a clear error of judg-
ment in considering the proper factors.” Id. (quotation marks
omitted).
We will vacate a district court’s sentence “only if we are left
with the ‘definite and firm’ conviction that the district court com-
mitted a clear error of judgment in weighing the § 3553(a) factors
by arriving at a sentence that is outside the range of reasonable
sentences dictated by the facts of the case.” United States v. Gold-
man, 953 F.3d 1213, 1222 (11th Cir. 2020) (citing Irey, 612 F.3d at
1190). Although this Court does not presume sentences within the
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8 Opinion of the Court 22-13873
guideline range are reasonable, we ordinarily expect they will be.
United States v. Perkins, 787 F.3d 1329, 1342 (11th Cir. 2015).
The “overarching” instruction to sentencing courts in 18
U.S.C. § 3553 is that any sentence, whether within the guideline
range or through a variance, must be sufficient but not greater than
necessary to comply with the purposes listed in § 3553(a)(2). Kim-
brough v. United States, 552 U.S. 85, 101, 128 S. Ct. 558, 570 (2007); 18
U.S.C. § 3553(a). The proper factors as set out in § 3553(a) include
the nature and circumstances of the offense, the personal history
and characteristics of the defendant, the seriousness of the crime,
and the need for the sentence to promote respect for the law, pro-
vide just punishment, and afford adequate deterrence. 18 U.S.C.
§ 3553(a)(1)-(2). The court must also consider the applicable guide-
line range, any pertinent policy statements from the Sentencing
Commission, and the need to avoid unwarranted sentencing dis-
parities between similarly situated defendants and provide restitu-
tion to any of the defendant’s victims. Id. § 3553(a)(3)-(7).
The district court need not account for every § 3553(a) fac-
tor, nor must it discuss each factor and the role that it played in
sentencing. United States v. McBride, 511 F.3d 1293, 1297 (11th Cir.
2007). Failure to discuss mitigating evidence does not indicate that
the court “erroneously ignored or failed to consider this evidence.”
United States v. Amedeo, 487 F.3d 823, 833 (11th Cir. 2007).
Perez argues on appeal that the district court imposed a sub-
stantively unreasonable sentence because the sentence is greater
than necessary to achieve the considerations set forth in § 3553(a).
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22-13873 Opinion of the Court 9
He claims the district court did not properly consider his youth at
the time of the offense, his lack of adult criminal history, and his
family support. In response, the government argues that the dis-
trict court properly weighed Perez’s age and mental health, as well
as the facts of the case, the violence offense conduct, Perez’s crim-
inal history, and the need to protect the public in concluding that a
sentence at the low end of the guideline range was appropriate.
The government contends that the district court gave a sufficient
explanation for the imposed sentence and did not abuse its discre-
tion.
We conclude that the record demonstrates that Perez can-
not show the district court abused its discretion and that his
217-month total imprisonment sentence is substantively unreason-
able because the record demonstrates the district court adequately
weighed the § 3553(a) factors in concluding a sentence within Pe-
rez’s guideline range was appropriate. After hearing the parties’
arguments, the district court noted its consideration of Perez’s mit-
igating circumstances, the advisory guideline range, and the
§ 3553(a) factors. The district court denied Perez’s requested
downward variance because it found that Perez committed the of-
fense while he was on probation and the offense involved a carjack-
ing. The district court also stated that a sentence at the low end of
the guideline range would reflect the seriousness of the offense and
Perez’s criminal history, deter recidivism, and protect the public.
Further, although we do not automatically presume that a sen-
tence within the guideline range is reasonable, we conclude that
the 217-month total sentence is substantively reasonable, in part,
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10 Opinion of the Court 22-13873
because the 97-month sentence for Count One was at the low end
of the guideline range and the 120-month sentence for Count Two
was the mandated minimum statutory term. See Perkins, 787 F.3d
at 1342. Accordingly, based on the aforementioned reasons, we
affirm Perez’s sentence.
AFFIRMED.
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