SUSAN R. BOLTON, District Judge.
The Court now considers Petitioner Arturo Rodriguez-Rios ("Petitioner")'s Amended Motion to Vacate, Set Aside, or Correct Sentence Under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 ("Amended Motion"). (Doc. 13, Am. Mot.) The matter was referred to Magistrate Judge Michelle H. Burns for a Report and Recommendation.
The relevant background of this case was summarized in the Report and Recommendation and is incorporated herein:
(Doc. 56, R. & R. at 2 (citations and footnote omitted).)
Petitioner appealed his conviction and sentence to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
On May 16, 2016, Petitioner filed an application to file a second or successive § 2255 Motion based on the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Johnson v. United States.
On March 7, 2017, this Court stayed the case pending decisions by the Ninth Circuit in United States v. Begay,
On September 11, 2019, Respondent filed its Response to Petitioner's Amended Motion, requesting that this Court grant Petitioner's Amended Motion, vacate his conviction under § 924(c), and resentence him as to Counts One, Two, and Four.
A federal prisoner may seek relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 if his sentence was "imposed in violation of the United States Constitution or the laws of the United States, . . . was in excess of the maximum authorized by law, or is otherwise subject to collateral attack." 28 U.S.C. § 2255(a). A district court "must make a de novo determination of those portions of the report . . . to which objection is made," and "may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the findings or recommendations made by the magistrate." 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C). A court need review only those portions objected to by a party, meaning a court can adopt without further review all portions not objected to. See United States v. Reyna-Tapia, 328 F.3d 1114, 1121 (9th Cir. 2003) (en banc). For those portions of a Magistrate Judge's findings and recommendations to which neither party has objected, the Act does not prescribe any standard of review. See, e.g., Thomas v. Arn, 474 U.S. 140, 152 (1985) ("There is no indication that Congress. . . intended to require a district judge to review a magistrate's report to which no objections are filed.").
"In this case, [Petitioner]'s § 924(c) conviction was predicated on hostage taking in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1203." (Resp. at 4.) Under § 1203, a person commits a hostage taking if he "seizes or detains and threatens to kill, to injure, or to continue to detain another person in order to compel a third person or a governmental organization to do or abstain from doing any act as an explicit or implicit condition for the release of the person detained." 18 U.S.C. § 1203(a). In light of Davis, Respondent submits that hostage taking can no longer be a crime of violence under the residual clause in § 924(c)(3)(B) because that clause is unconstitutionally vague. (Resp. at 4 (citing Davis, 139 S. Ct. at 2336).) Respondent is correct. And hostage taking does not qualify as a crime of violence under the elements clause in § 924(c)(3)(A) because the threat of continued detention "can be accomplished without the use, attempted use, or threatened use of violent physical force."
Respondent objects to a single phrase used in the Report and Recommendation: that on remand, with respect to re-sentencing for Counts One, Two, and Four, the Court "`only consider the fact of [Petitioner]'s possession of a firearm in recalculating [Petitioner]'s U.S.S.G. sentencing guideline range.'" (Obj. at 1 (quoting R. & R. at 4).) Respondent argues that although the Court should "consider the recalculation of [Petitioner]'s guidelines, it `is a well-established principle that "a court's duty is always to sentence the defendant as he stands before the court on the day of sentencing."'" (Obj. at 1 (quoting United States v. Pete, 819 F.3d 1121, 1130 (9th Cir. 2016) (citation omitted)).) Respondent continues, "to impose a sentence that is `sufficient, but not greater than necessary,'" a court shall consider "`the nature and circumstances of the offense and the history and characteristics of the defendant.'"
The Court does not interpret the Magistrate Judge's recommendation that the Court "only consider the fact of [Petitioner]'s possession of a firearm in recalculating [Petitioner]'s U.S.S.G. sentencing guideline range" as a recommendation to restrict consideration of the § 3553(a) factors for re-sentencing purposes. (R. & R. at 4.) Rather, the Court finds that this recommendation relates to the recalculation of the guideline range due to the application of the U.S.S.G. §2A4.1(b)(3) adjustment.
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