Filed: May 08, 2019
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Summary: NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION File Name: 19a0246n.06 Case No. 18-5059 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT FILED May 08, 2019 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk Plaintiff-Appellee, ) ) v. ) ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED ) STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR PAUL WOODS, III, ) THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF ) TENNESSEE Defendant-Appellant. ) _/ Before: MERRITT, KETHLEDGE, and NALBANDIAN, Circuit Judges. MERRITT, Circuit Judge. This is an appeal from a district court judgment
Summary: NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION File Name: 19a0246n.06 Case No. 18-5059 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT FILED May 08, 2019 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk Plaintiff-Appellee, ) ) v. ) ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED ) STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR PAUL WOODS, III, ) THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF ) TENNESSEE Defendant-Appellant. ) _/ Before: MERRITT, KETHLEDGE, and NALBANDIAN, Circuit Judges. MERRITT, Circuit Judge. This is an appeal from a district court judgment ..
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NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION
File Name: 19a0246n.06
Case No. 18-5059
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
FILED
May 08, 2019
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, )
DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk
Plaintiff-Appellee, )
)
v. ) ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED
) STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR
PAUL WOODS, III, ) THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF
) TENNESSEE
Defendant-Appellant.
)
____________________________________/
Before: MERRITT, KETHLEDGE, and NALBANDIAN, Circuit Judges.
MERRITT, Circuit Judge. This is an appeal from a district court judgment denying a
motion to compel the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee to file
a sentencing reduction motion on behalf of defendant, Paul Woods, pursuant to Federal Rule of
Criminal Procedure 35(b)(2).1 Generally, it is incumbent upon the United States Attorney for the
1
Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 35(b) states:
(b) Reducing a Sentence for Substantial Assistance.
(1) In General. Upon the government’s motion made within one year of sentencing, the court may
reduce a sentence if the defendant, after sentencing, provided substantial assistance in investigating
or prosecuting another person.
(2) Later Motion. Upon the government’s motion made more than one year after sentencing, the
court may reduce a sentence if the defendant’s substantial assistance involved:
(A) information not known to the defendant until one year or more after
sentencing;
(B) information provided by the defendant to the government within one year of
sentencing, but which did not become useful to the government until more than
one year after sentencing; or
Case No. 18-5059, United States v. Woods
district where a defendant was sentenced to file a substantial assistance motion seeking a sentence
reduction under Rule 35. The Rule explicitly states in both (b)(1) and (b)(2) that any sentence
reduction for substantial assistance originates “[u]pon the government’s motion.” Rule 35(b)(2)
establishes a framework for modifying a sentence of an individual who has provided “substantial
assistance” to the government more than a year after initial sentencing, which is the case here.
Defendant contends that the government promised to file a motion pursuant to Rule 35 for
his substantial assistance in a criminal prosecution in the Eastern District of Kentucky. Defendant
raises three arguments in support of that motion. First, he argues that the government bargained
away its discretion to decide whether to file a Rule 35 motion when the prosecutor from the Eastern
District of Kentucky promised defendant that the motion would be filed in exchange for his rebuttal
testimony in a prison murder case prosecuted in the Eastern District of Kentucky. Second,
defendant argues that he has made a substantial threshold showing that the government’s decision
not to file a Rule 35 motion was based on an unconstitutional motive, in this case in retaliation for
his filing of a § 2255 motion. And third, defendant argues that the decision not to file the motion
was not rationally related to any legitimate government interest.
We affirm the district court’s denial of defendant’s motion to compel the government to
file a Rule 35 motion. The district court’s factual finding that the government did not “bargain
away” its discretion is not clearly erroneous. As to defendant’s argument that the failure to file
the motion was based on an “unconstitutional motive,” defendant has produced no evidence to
support that allegation. The government has consistently provided a legitimate, nondiscriminatory
(C) information the usefulness of which could not reasonably have been
anticipated by the defendant until more than one year after sentencing and which
was promptly provided to the government after its usefulness was reasonably
apparent to the defendant.
(3) Evaluating Substantial Assistance. In evaluating whether the defendant has provided substantial
assistance, the court may consider the defendant’s presentence assistance.
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Case No. 18-5059, United States v. Woods
reason for declining to file a Rule 35 motion on defendant’s behalf due to defendant’s conduct
during his own proceedings in the Middle District of Tennessee.
I.
This case has a long and twisting procedural history and has been before multiple district
court judges in the Middle District of Tennessee and two previous panels of this court. The
essential facts and history concerning our holding are related below, but a full recitation can be
found in the district court’s thorough opinion denying the motion to compel. United States v.
Woods, No. 3:98-cr-00159-7, 2018 WL 317430 (M.D. Tenn. Jan. 8, 2018).
In 1998, defendant was charged with and pled guilty to drug trafficking and money
laundering charges. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on the drug trafficking count, and to
a concurrent sentence of 20 years on the money laundering count. We dismissed his direct appeal
based on an appeal waiver provision in his plea agreement. United States v. Woods, No. 01-5726
(6th Cir. Feb. 4, 2002). Defendant subsequently filed a post-conviction petition for relief pursuant
to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 claiming ineffective assistance of counsel. The district court denied the
motion, Woods v. United States, No. 3:03-cv-00094 (M.D. Tenn. Apr. 19, 2007), and we affirmed.
Woods v. United States, 398 F. App’x 117 (6th Cir. 2010).
In 2011, while incarcerated in Kentucky, defendant was a witness for the prosecution at a
trial in the Eastern District of Kentucky of his former cellmate, Dwaune Gravley, a violent felon
and the head of a violent prison gang who was charged with the murder of another inmate in the
prison. Defendant contends that the prosecutor in the Gravely murder trial, Assistant United States
Attorney Patrick Molloy of the Eastern District of Kentucky, promised defendant that he would
file a substantial assistance motion seeking a sentence reduction pursuant to Rule 35(b) in
exchange for defendant’s rebuttal testimony against Gravely. After the trial was over and Gravely
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Case No. 18-5059, United States v. Woods
had been convicted, Molloy made a request to Sunny Koshy, an Assistant United States Attorney
for the Middle District of Tennessee, where defendant had been originally sentenced, to file a Rule
35(b) motion on defendant’s behalf. The request was denied.
In April 2012, defendant filed the first of several motions in the Middle District of
Tennessee, some filed by counsel, some filed pro se, seeking to compel the government to file a
Rule 35(b) motion to reduce his sentence based on the substantial assistance he provided in the
Gravley trial in the Eastern District of Kentucky in 2011. In that motion, defendant conceded that
the filing of a Rule 35 motion was within the discretion of the government, but he argued that its
refusal to do so was based on an unconstitutional motive, namely in retaliation for his filing of a
§ 2255 motion, and the decision not to file a motion was not rationally related to any legitimate
government interest.
In response, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee
indicated that the reason for its refusal to file a substantial assistance motion on the defendant’s
behalf was due to the seriousness of defendant’s original crime, and ensuing misconduct by
defendant during his proceedings in the Middle District of Tennessee, including: breach of his
plea agreement; failure to accept responsibility; efforts to obstruct justice; perjury; making of false
allegations; public safety factors; and lack of timely, full, and truthful cooperation. The district
court concluded that the government’s refusal to file a substantial assistance motion was not based
on an unconstitutional motive, and it was rationally related to a legitimate government end. United
States v. Woods, No. 3:98-00159, 2012 WL 12884742, at *3 (M.D. Tenn. Oct. 18, 2012). The
defendant appealed, arguing for the first time on appeal that the government had “bargained away”
its discretion to file a Rule 35 motion through the actions of Assistant United States Attorney
Molloy in the Eastern District of Kentucky. We vacated the district court’s order and remanded
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Case No. 18-5059, United States v. Woods
the case with directions to conduct discovery and a hearing on whether the government had
“bargained away” its discretion to file a Rule 35 motion on behalf of defendant, and whether the
defendant had made the necessary threshold showing on the claim of an unconstitutional motive.
United States v. Woods, 533 F. App’x 594 (6th Cir. 2013).
After remand, the matter was set for hearing repeatedly over the ensuing four years, due
primarily to the fact that defendant kept firing his attorneys. A hearing eventually commenced on
December 6, 2017, in the Middle District of Tennessee. The district court heard testimony from
three witnesses: (1) former Assistant United States Attorney Patrick Molloy from the Eastern
District of Kentucky, who testified concerning defendant’s assistance in the murder trial of
Dwaune Gravley that was prosecuted by Molloy in the Eastern District of Kentucky in 2011; (2)
defendant’s attorney in 2011, Richard Tennent, who testified about his recollection and notes he
took leading up to the filing of the first motion to compel; and (3) defendant Woods, who gave his
version of the circumstances.
Molloy recounted his considerable experience as a career federal prosecutor, including
time as United States Attorney. During the events at issue, in 2011, Molloy was an Assistant
United States Attorney handling crimes occurring in the five federal correctional facilities located
in Kentucky. Molloy explained that in that role he frequently used inmates as witnesses and that
the inmates commonly requested Rule 35 sentencing reductions in exchange for their testimony.
Molloy testified that he had developed a three-step process for handling inmate’s requests for Rule
35 motions: first, he told the inmate he would need to contact the prosecutor in the district where
the inmate was sentenced to advise the prosecutor about the assistance provided in the Eastern
District of Kentucky; second, that prosecutor would need to agree to file the motion; and third, the
sentencing judge would make the ultimate decision about whether to grant the motion and reduce
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Case No. 18-5059, United States v. Woods
the sentence based on the inmate’s assistance. Molloy stressed that he never promised a
cooperating inmate that a Rule 35 motion would be filed on the inmate’s behalf because it was
beyond his power to make such a promise.
Molloy testified that he was involved in prosecuting two inmates, Dwaune Gravley and
Daryl Milburne, for the brutal murder of a third inmate. Molloy said he called defendant to testify
in the case-in-chief that when defendant and Gravely were cellmates, Gravely told defendant about
ordering Milburne to kill another inmate. Molloy related that when Milburne was called to testify,
however, he denied that Gravely had any involvement with the murder. Based on Milburne’s
testimony, Molloy needed to call defendant on rebuttal to testify that Milburne had told defendant
that Milburne planned to perjure himself so as not to implicate Gravely in the murder. Gravely
was convicted and Molloy said he found defendant’s testimony credible, accurate and honest.
Molloy also noted that defendant put himself in danger by testifying against Gravely, who would
surely seek to retaliate against defendant.
Molloy said that prior to the case-in-chief, defendant repeatedly told him he was offering
his testimony because he wanted to “do the right thing.” Defendant also told Molloy that he did
not think he was eligible for a reduction because he had a life sentence. In accordance with
standard procedures, a Memorandum of Understanding, dated January 19, 2011, memorialized the
first pretrial meeting between defendant and Molloy. The Memorandum said:
that the interview was voluntary, that Woods could refuse to answer any questions
or end the interview at any time, and that no promises or guarantees would be made
to Woods to get his cooperation. Woods was advised that options such as a Rule 35
sentence reduction and placement in a protection program were possibilities, but
that sentence reductions were ultimately up to the district where Woods was
convicted, and given that Woods was currently serving a life sentence, it was
possible that Woods’ sentence would be unchanged, even if Woods did cooperate
with the government.
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Case No. 18-5059, United States v. Woods
2018 WL 317430, at *8. Molloy testified that because defendant did not request a sentence
reduction before the case-in-chief in the Gravley trial, Molloy did not question defendant during
direct examination about the possibility of receiving a Rule 35 sentence reduction in exchange for
his testimony, an exchange he normally would have on the stand with a witness who had requested
a sentence reduction in exchange for testimony. Molloy testified that defendant brought up his
request for a sentencing reduction motion for the first time just before giving his rebuttal
testimony.2 Molloy testified that he explained the process quickly to defendant then, but told
defendant that he would not have time to contact the prosecutor for the Middle District of
Tennessee before defendant would need to testify in rebuttal. Contrary to defendant’s allegation,
Molloy testified that he did not remember defendant saying he would not testify in rebuttal unless
a “promise” was made.
During defendant’s rebuttal testimony at Gravley’s trial, in order to inform the jury about
any bias, Molloy asked defendant about his hope for a sentence reduction in exchange for his
testimony:
Q. First of all, Mr. Woods, now that you have thought about it perhaps more, what
do you anticipate or hope that the government might do for you as a result of your
testifying in this case?
A. Receive a Rule 35 and be placed in the witness protection program.
Q. All right. Now with regard to the Rule 35, were you at once under the impression
that because you are doing a life sentence, that you cannot receive a Rule 35?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you understand that that is not the case, that is not the way it works –
A. Yes, sir.
Q.—that you can? What do you understand the Rule 35 to be?
2
At the hearing, defense counsel asked Molloy about a letter Molloy had sent regarding inmate security prior to trial
stating that the defendant, like other cooperating inmates, “hopes to get a Rule 35 sentence reduction and to be placed
in a safe institution.” Molloy testified that he made that statement in error and that the defendant had not asked for a
Rule 35 until immediately prior to his rebuttal testimony. Defendant’s testimony is consistent with Molloy’s on that
point.
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Case No. 18-5059, United States v. Woods
A. Well, the government, they haven’t made any promises. They can only
recommend and file a Rule 35. And there is nothing guaranteed. It is up to my
sentencing judge whether or not a Rule 35 is even granted or if I receive a time cut.
Q. I can recommend it; is that correct?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. But it is ultimately up to the judge. I think you were out of Nashville, Tennessee?
A. Yes, the Middle District of Tennessee.
Q. All right. Anything else that you had requested or any other kind of benefit that
you hope to receive?
A. No, sir.
Kentucky Tr. Trans. at 1687-88 (emphasis added).
After the trial, Molloy sent a letter to the “home” prosecutors of all the inmates who
testified against Gravley, including defendant, detailing their assistance at the trial and
recommending they each receive a Rule 35 reduction. Molloy testified he received no immediate
response from the Middle District of Tennessee to the letter, and he repeatedly contacted the United
States Attorney’s Office in the ensuing months.
In September 2011, six months after the conclusion of the Kentucky trial, defendant sent a
letter to Molloy thanking him for letting him testify, and noting “I know at this point it’s very
limited what you can do [to assist me].” Defendant also wrote to Assistant United States Attorney
Koshy to apologize for his conduct during his proceedings in the Middle District of Tennessee.
When Molloy eventually talked to Koshy, on April 19, 2012, over a year after Molloy had sent his
letter recommending a Rule 35 motion be filed on defendant’s behalf, Koshy said his office would
not file a Rule 35 motion on behalf of defendant. Molloy said he learned for the first time then
from Koshy about defendant’s perjury before the grand jury, that defendant had made false
accusations against Koshy, and that he had been a fugitive for a time.3
3
Molloy said had he known about this conduct he might not have called defendant to testify because it likely should
have been disclosed to Gravely before trial. Molloy testified that he did disclose the information to Gravley once he
learned about it, and Gravley requested a new trial based on the information. But the Kentucky court ruled that
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Case No. 18-5059, United States v. Woods
Molloy subsequently received a letter from defendant accusing him of failing to follow
through on his promise to file a Rule 35 motion on defendant’s behalf. Molloy testified that the
letter’s representation of any promise was “patently inaccurate.” Molloy wrote a letter to
defendant in March of 2013 that summarized his recollection of their interactions leading up to
defendant’s testimony at the Gravley trial, the events that transpired since the trial, and offering
his regret that defendant misunderstood the limits of Molloy’s efforts to obtain a Rule 35 sentence
reduction for defendant:
As to your letter of March 15, 2013, I did not tell you I would directly file a Rule
35 in your behalf. I have no standing to do so, and at no time did I tell you that I
could or would file a Rule 35 motion directly to your trial judge. I told you
explicitly that first it was up to your prosecutor and lastly to your judge.
Molloy’s testimony at the hearing in December 2017 was consistent with the contents of the letter,
and Molloy’s memory and recitation of his interactions with defendant have remained consistent
since 2011.
Defendant’s former counsel, Richard Tennent, testified that he had started representing
defendant in 2006 or 2007 during the appeal of defendant’s § 2255 motion. He testified that he
was not well versed in Rule 35 proceedings, but that he and defendant had discussed the possibility
of seeking a sentence reduction even before the 2011 Gravley trial in Kentucky. When the
opportunity to testify at the Gravley trial arose, Tennent said he advised defendant to cooperate at
the Gravley trial “out of the goodness of his heart” and to trust he would be rewarded, advice he
acknowledged was “error.” Tennent thought he might have talked to defendant before defendant
gave his rebuttal testimony at Gravley’s trial, but he wasn’t sure. He said his best recollection was
defendant had not been a “crucial” witness and denied the motion because the jury would likely have still convicted
Gravley.
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Case No. 18-5059, United States v. Woods
reflected in a motion to compel he filed on defendant’s behalf in the district court on December
21, 2013:
a. Mr. Molloy told counsel that he was rushed for time . . . and that the issue of a
Rule 35 came up on the eve of recalling Mr. Woods as a rebuttal witness.
b. Due to the rush of time, Mr. Molloy did not have time to contact the relevant
Assistant US Attorney in the Middle District of Tennessee, as would have been his
normal course of conduct.
c. Mr. Molloy was not certain exactly what he told Mr. Woods about the Rule 35
process. It was his normal practice to fully explain the process (including the role
of the local US Attorney), and he ‘suspected’ or ‘believed’ he ‘would have’ told
Mr. Woods this information. However, he did not remember exactly what he said.
d. Mr. Molloy was sure he did not ‘promise’ that Mr. Woods would receive a
sentencing reduction. However, again, he did not remember exact words.
Tennent testified that Molloy has consistently denied to Tennent that he promised defendant that
he would file a Rule 35 motion and Tennent’s own notes and other documentary evidence support
that statement.
Defendant was the third witness to testify at the hearing. His testimony is fairly consistent
with the other two witnesses until he testifies about his recollection concerning the meeting with
Molloy before the Kentucky trial. Defendant testified that Molloy told him that when asked at
Gravley’s trial what he was receiving in exchange for his testimony, he should say that the only
thing he had been promised was witness protection because he was serving a life sentence and was
not eligible for a Rule 35 reduction.4
Defendant denies that Molloy ever went over his “three-step” process with him. Defendant
said that when Molloy came to him to ask him to testify in rebuttal, Molloy explained that his case
was in jeopardy because Milburne had lied and said that Gravley did not order him to murder
4
The Memorandum of Understanding between Molloy and defendant does not say that defendant was “ineligible” for
a sentence reduction, but says that because defendant was serving a life sentence “it was possible [his] sentence would
be unchanged, even if [he] did cooperate with the government.” Mem. of Understanding at 1.
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Case No. 18-5059, United States v. Woods
anyone. Defendant said that he told Molloy that unless Molloy promised to file a Rule 35 motion
he would not testify. According to defendant, Molloy responded, “Okay, Paul, I promise to give
you a Rule 35. . . . I will file the motion with the district court.” Defendant said that Molloy did
inform him that the ultimate decision would be up to the judge. Defendant said he called Tennent
and told him that Molloy promised to file a Rule 35 motion. Tennent denied this and said he would
have made a note if defendant had said it to him. Defendant testified that he thought Molloy had
filed the Rule 35 motion right after the Gravley trial.
In addition to testifying about the Kentucky trial, defendant admitted to being a large-scale
drug trafficker, a fugitive after being indicted, violating his plea agreement by failing to disclose
everything he knew, and perjuring himself before the grand jury during his own criminal
proceedings in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He testified that he disagreed with the finding that
he had tampered with witnesses and denied he had lied when he testified during his § 2255
proceeding that he had sex with his girlfriend several times in a government conference room with
the knowledge of his attorney, of a Drug Enforcement Agent, and of Assistant United States
Attorney Koshy.
The district court’s opinion acknowledged the factual dispute as to whether Molloy
promised defendant he would file a Rule 35 motion in exchange for defendant’s rebuttal testimony
at the Gravely trial in Kentucky in 2011. 2018 WL 317430, at *16. It concluded that the
government did not “bargain away its discretion” because Molloy had never made such a promise.
The court relied on defendant’s own conduct in September of 2011 when he wrote to Molloy and
thanked him for his assistance in recommending the filing of a Rule 35 motion, which is what
Molloy testified he promised to do and did in fact do. The court pointed to Molloy’s extensive
experience as a prosecutor, especially with utilizing Rule 35 motions in exchange for inmate
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Case No. 18-5059, United States v. Woods
testimony. It found that Molloy was more credible than defendant, and that it was unlikely that
Molloy would lie in a federal court proceeding. This appeal followed.
II.
On appeal, defendant makes the same arguments to support his motion to compel that he
made in the district court: (1) the government “bargained away” any discretion it had as to whether
to file a Rule 35 Motion based on defendant’s “substantial assistance” in a murder trial in the
Eastern District of Kentucky; (2) the refusal to file a Rule 35 motion was based on an
unconstitutional motive; and (3) the refusal to file a Rule 35 motion was not “rationally related”
to any legitimate governmental interest.
A. The government “bargained away” its discretion to file a Rule 35 motion
On appeal, defendant says it was his understanding and “objectively reasonable belief” that
Molloy would file a Rule 35 motion on his behalf in exchange for his “extraordinary assistance”
in the Gravley trial in the Eastern District of Kentucky in 2011. The district court made extensive
factual findings after the December 2017 hearing and concluded that the government had not
“bargained away” its discretion to file a Rule 35 motion because Molloy had never promised to do
so. The district court relied primarily on the credibility of Molloy, including his lengthy experience
as a federal prosecutor, particularly with Rule 35 motions, his consistent recitation of his
recollection of the events at issue, and the fact that all of the documentary evidence introduced at
the hearing, from the initial Memorandum of Understanding to the letters exchanged between the
various actors, supports Molloy’s recollection of events. There is no indication in the record
beyond defendant’s self-serving statements that Molloy “promised” that a Rule 35 motion would
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Case No. 18-5059, United States v. Woods
be filed. The testimony and documentary evidence from the evidentiary hearing are uniformly to
the contrary. Molloy said he would recommend the filing, and that is what he did.5
The district court’s factual finding that Molloy did not promise to file a Rule 35 motion is
supported by the record and is not clearly erroneous.
B. Unconstitutional motive
The district court also found that defendant failed to make a substantial threshold showing
that the government’s decision not to file a Rule 35 motion was based on an unconstitutional
motive. Defendant continues to argue on appeal that the government’s decision not to file a Rule
35 motion was motivated by its desire to retaliate against him for filing a post-conviction § 2255
motion. “[W]hile an individual certainly may be penalized for violating the law, he just as certainly
may not be punished for exercising a protected statutory or constitutional right.” United States v.
Goodwin, 457 U.S. 368, 372 (1982). To prove an unconstitutional motive, a defendant must
present objective evidence that the prosecutor’s decision was “motivated by a desire to punish him
for doing something that the law plainly allowed him to do.”
Id. at 384. To prevail on appeal,
defendant must present evidence that leaves the appeals court “firmly convinced” that the district
court was mistaken in its factual finding that the government was not unconstitutionally motivated
in its refusal to file the motion. United States v. Long, 531 F. App’x 669, 671 (6th Cir. 2013).
Defendant has not presented such evidence.
The Supreme Court has addressed claims that federal prosecutors have failed to file
sentence-reduction motions for substantial assistance pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3553(e) and U.S.S.G.
5
Defendant argues for the first time on appeal that Molloy’s promise to him was ambiguous and perhaps he
misunderstood Molloy, and that any ambiguity should be construed in his favor. He has previously maintained that
the promise was unambiguous and he did not misunderstand Molloy. As demonstrated at the evidentiary hearing,
defendant knew that it was the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Middle District of Tennessee that must file the motion,
and that it was its decision whether to do so.
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Case No. 18-5059, United States v. Woods
§ 5K1.1, but it has not directly addressed a motion under Rule 35(b). In Wade v. United States,
504 U.S. 181 (1992), the Court held that a district court lacks the authority to effect a “substantial
assistance” sentencing reduction in the absence of the appropriate government motion. The Court
also noted that the government is vested with the power, but not the duty, to make the motion,
subject only to a review for unconstitutional motives for the failure to so file.
Id. at 185-86
(“[F]ederal district courts have authority to review a prosecutor’s refusal to file a substantial-
assistance motion and to grant a remedy if they find that the refusal was based on an
unconstitutional motive. Thus, a defendant would be entitled to relief if a prosecutor refused to file
a substantial-assistance motion, say, because of the defendant’s race or religion.”).
Our own precedent also makes clear that a prosecutor’s decision not to file a substantial-
assistance motion may be reviewed “only for unconstitutional motives.” See United States v.
Hawkins, 274 F.3d 420, 427-28 (6th Cir. 2001) (per curiam); United States v. Moore,
225 F.3d
637, 641 (6th Cir. 2000); see also United States v. Fields,
763 F.3d 443, 454 (6th Cir. 2014) (“In
this circuit, when plea agreements afford the government complete discretion to file a motion for
a downward departure, we limit our review to unconstitutional motives. Indeed, unlike other
circuits, we do not review for bad faith when the decision to file a motion vests within the sole
discretion of the government.” (internal quotation marks and citations omitted)).
Defendant’s allegation of unconstitutional motive apparently is based on the fact that
Assistant United States Attorney Koshy said defendant was lying when defendant claimed in his
post-conviction motion that Koshy, a Drug Enforcement Agent, and defendant’s own attorney had
allowed defendant to have sex with his girlfriend in a conference room during court proceedings.
The district court found Koshy and the others more credible than defendant, found that defendant
was lying, and dismissed the § 2255 motion. This court affirmed. The fact that defendant was
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Case No. 18-5059, United States v. Woods
found to have lied about the substance of the § 2255 motion was mentioned as a reason that the
United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee declined to file a Rule 35
motion, but defendant has presented no evidence that his filing of a federal habeas motion
influenced in any way the government’s failure to file a Rule 35 motion on his behalf. The
allegation of an unconstitutional motive is without merit.
C. Rationally related to governmental interest
Although it is not clear that we can even review the government’s refusal to file a substantial
assistance motion under Rule 35 for any reason other than unconstitutional motive, we will briefly
address defendant’s argument that the government must demonstrate that the refusal is “rationally
related” to a governmental interest. The government has consistently maintained that the reason
it declined to file a Rule 35 motion was based on the seriousness of defendant’s crime and his
previous conduct in the Middle District of Tennessee during his original criminal proceeding and
later during his § 2255 proceeding. These include lying to the grand jury, fleeing as a fugitive
after the filing of charges, possible witness tampering, breaking the terms of the plea agreement
by failing to fully disclose information, and lying in his § 2255 motion. Defendant argues that the
government may not consider any factors other than his substantial assistance, and cannot consider
any factors that went into his original sentencing determination. Defendant provides no authority
for this proposition, and the Supreme Court has said otherwise. Wade, 504 U.S. at 187 (“[A]
showing of assistance is a necessary condition for relief, [but] not a sufficient one.”). Furthermore,
this court has found that it is appropriate for the district court to weigh considerations such as the
ones at issue here when deciding to file a Rule 35(b) substantial-assistance motion. United States
v. Grant,
636 F.3d 803, 817 (6th Cir. 2011) (en banc). Using the same rationale, we agree that the
government can look at factors other than the actual substantial assistance provided by defendant.
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Case No. 18-5059, United States v. Woods
Defendant has not plausibly rebutted the government’s articulated legitimate reason for not filing
the motion.
We affirm the judgment of the district court.
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