Filed: Nov. 18, 2009
Latest Update: Feb. 21, 2020
Summary: [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FILED FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT U.S. COURT OF APPEALS _ ELEVENTH CIRCUIT Nov. 18, 2009 No. 09-11437 THOMAS K. KAHN Non-Argument Calendar CLERK _ D. C. Docket No. 08-14022-CR-JEM UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus LONNIE WAITE, Defendant-Appellant. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida _ (November 18, 2009) Before DUBINA, Chief Judge, CARNES and FAY, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Ap
Summary: [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FILED FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT U.S. COURT OF APPEALS _ ELEVENTH CIRCUIT Nov. 18, 2009 No. 09-11437 THOMAS K. KAHN Non-Argument Calendar CLERK _ D. C. Docket No. 08-14022-CR-JEM UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus LONNIE WAITE, Defendant-Appellant. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida _ (November 18, 2009) Before DUBINA, Chief Judge, CARNES and FAY, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: App..
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[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FILED
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
________________________ ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
Nov. 18, 2009
No. 09-11437 THOMAS K. KAHN
Non-Argument Calendar CLERK
________________________
D. C. Docket No. 08-14022-CR-JEM
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
LONNIE WAITE,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Florida
_________________________
(November 18, 2009)
Before DUBINA, Chief Judge, CARNES and FAY, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Appellant Lonnie Waite appeals his 240-month sentence, imposed after he
pled guilty to three counts of transporting or shipping child pornography in
violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(1). The sentence was in excess of the applicable
guideline range of 151 to 188 months’ imprisonment, but was less than the
government’s request for 360 months. Waite raises the issue of procedural
unreasonableness because he contends that the court’s explanation for his sentence
was insufficient. Also, Waite argues that his sentence was substantively
unreasonable because the court failed to properly weigh the sentencing factors in
18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). Waite contends that a reasonable sentence would have been
within the guideline range.
Sentencing decisions are reviewed on appeal for reasonableness. Gall v.
United States,
552 U.S. 38, ___,
128 S. Ct. 586, 594,
169 L. Ed. 2d 445 (2007). A
review for reasonableness requires us to apply a deferential abuse-of-discretion
standard to the sentence of the district court, “whether inside, just outside, or
significantly outside the Guidelines range . . . .” Id. at ___, 128 S. Ct. at 591. Such
a review requires us to invoke the following two-step process to evaluate
procedural and substantive reasonableness:
It must first ensure that the district court committed no significant
procedural error, such as failing to calculate (or improperly
calculating) the Guidelines range, treating the Guidelines as
mandatory, failing to consider the § 3553(a) factors, selecting a
sentence based on clearly erroneous facts, or failing to adequately
explain the chosen sentence-including an explanation for any
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deviation from the Guidelines range. Assuming that the district court’s
sentencing decision is procedurally sound, the appellate court should
then consider the substantive reasonableness of the sentence imposed
under an abuse-of-discretion standard.
Id. at ___, 128 S. Ct. at 597. The substantive reasonableness of a sentence is
reviewed under the deferential abuse of discretion standard, considering the totality
of the circumstances. United States v. Livesay,
525 F.3d 1081, 1091 (11th Cir.
2008).
Procedural soundness assumes that “[w]here the judge imposes a sentence
outside the Guidelines, the judge will explain why he has done so.” Rita v. United
States,
551 U.S. 338, 357,
127 S. Ct. 2456, 2468,
168 L. Ed. 2d 203 (2007). A
greater departure from the applicable guideline range should be “supported by a
more significant justification” than a smaller departure. Gall, 552 U.S. at ___, 128
S. Ct. at 597. The judge’s statement, however, may be brief and is to be evaluated
in conjunction with the record and context of the case.
Rita, 551 U.S. at 358-9;
127 S. Ct. at 2469. “The sentencing judge should set forth enough to satisfy the
appellate court that he has considered the parties’ arguments and has a reasoned
basis for exercising his own legal decisionmaking authority.”
Id. at 356, 127 S. Ct.
at 2468.
In arriving at a substantively reasonable sentence, the district court must
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give consideration to the sentencing factors listed in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). United
States v. Talley,
431 F.3d 784, 786 (11th Cir. 2005). Although the court must
consider the 3553(a) factors in its sentencing decision, it need not “state on the
record that it has explicitly considered each of the § 3553(a) factors or . . . discuss
each of [them].” United States v. Scott,
426 F.3d 1324, 1329 (11th Cir. 2005). On
appeal, this Court must determine if the sentence “fail[ed] to achieve the purposes
of sentencing as stated in section 3553(a).”
Talley, 431 F.3d at 788. “If the
sentence is outside the guidelines range, this Court may consider the deviation, but
must give due deference to the district court’s decision that the § 3553(a) factors,
on a whole, justify the extent of the variance.” United States v. Williams,
526 F.3d
1312, 1322 (11th Cir. 2008) (internal quotation marks omitted). Further, we have
acknowledged that departures from the Guidelines are to be reviewed for
reasonableness guided by the § 3553(a) factors. United States v. Winingear,
422
F.3d 1241, 1246 (11th Cir. 2005). Extraordinary circumstances are not required to
justify a sentence outside the guideline range,
Livesay, 525 F.3d at 1090, and
“there is a range of reasonable sentences from which the district court may
choose.”
Talley, 431 F.3d at 788. The burden of establishing that the sentence is
unreasonable considering both the record and the § 3553(a) factors is on the party
challenging the sentence.
Id.
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We conclude from the record that Waite has failed to meet his burden to
show that his sentence was procedurally or substantively unreasonable. The
court’s statement, although brief, did set forth its reasons for sentencing Waite
above the guideline range. When considered in context with the record, a reasoned
basis for the decision is clear, and thus, there is no procedural error in the sentence.
In light of all the evidence that was presented at sentencing and the judge’s
statement that he had considered the § 3553(a) factors, we conclude that the
sentence is substantively reasonable. Waite has not shown that the district court
abused its discretion in imposing a sentence above the Guidelines. Accordingly,
we affirm Waite’s sentence.
AFFIRMED.
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