CYNTHIA BASHANT, District Judge.
Presently before the Court is the Government's motion for an indicative ruling under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 37 and Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 12.1. (ECF No. 1137.) For the following reasons, the Court grants the Government's motion and provides an indicative ruling.
Defendant David Michael Stokes pled guilty to violating 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d). (ECF No. 501.) In December 2015, the Court sentenced Stokes to two years in custody and three years of supervised release. (ECF No. 614.) The Court's judgment included a list of thirteen standard conditions of supervised release. (ECF No. 621.) Relevant here, this list includes the following three conditions:
(Id.)
Stokes later violated the conditions of his supervised release, and the Court revoked his release and imposed a sentence of six months, followed by an additional thirty months of supervised release. (ECF No. 938.) After serving his revocation sentence, Stokes was released from custody but again violated the conditions of his supervised release. (ECF No. 1073.) For this second violation, the Court sentenced Stokes to eight months of custody, followed by twenty-two months of supervised release. (Id.) The judgments for Stokes's two supervised release violations both contain the same three standard conditions of supervised release included above. (ECF Nos. 938, 1073.)
During this time, the Ninth Circuit held the three relevant standard conditions included in the Court's judgments are unconstitutionally vague. United States v. Evans, 883 F.3d 1154, 1162-65 (9th Cir. 2018). The Ninth Circuit reasoned that Standard Condition 4, which requires the defendant to "support his or her dependents and meet other family responsibilities," is unconstitutionally vague because it is unclear what the phrase "meet other family responsibilities" means. Id. at 1162-63. Similarly, the court rationalized that Standard Condition 5, which requires the defendant to "work regularly at a lawful occupation," is too vague because it is unclear what the word "regularly" means. Id. at 1164. Finally, the Ninth Circuit also concluded Standard Condition 13, which allows the probation officer to require that the defendant "notify third parties of risks that may be occasioned by the defendant's criminal record or personal history or characteristics," is impermissibly vague. Id. at 1164-65.
Also during the pendency of this case, the U.S. Sentencing Commission revised the same three standard conditions of supervised release. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 5D1.3. The Commission eliminated the phrase "meet other family responsibilities" that had been previously found in Standard Condition 4. Id. § 5D1.3(d)(1). Further, the condition regarding supporting dependents is no longer a standard condition, but is now a special condition that is "recommended in the circumstances described and, in addition, may otherwise be appropriate in particular cases." Id. The Commission also substituted the word "regularly" in the standard condition concerning employment, which now provides that "[t]he defendant shall work full time (at least 30 hours per week) at a lawful type of employment. . . ." Id. § 5D1.3(c)(7). Last, the Commission modified the standard condition concerning the defendant posing a risk to third parties to provide:
Id. § 5D1.3(c)(12).
Stokes has since appealed the sentence for his second violation of his conditions of supervised release. (ECF No. 1079.) The Government reports that Stokes is challenging the three standard conditions imposed by the Court that have been found to be unconstitutionally vague. (ECF No. 1137.) The Government moves for an indicative ruling on this issue. (Id.)
"As a general rule, the filing of a notice of appeal divests a district court of jurisdiction over those aspects of the case involved in the appeal." Stein v. Wood, 127 F.3d 1187, 1189 (9th Cir. 1997). This rule is "designed to avoid the confusion and waste of time that might flow from putting the same issues before two courts at the same time." Kern Oil & Ref. Co. v. Tenneco Oil Co., 840 F.2d 730, 734 (9th Cir. 1988). However, Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 37 provides that notwithstanding a pending appeal, the district court may make an "indicative ruling." See Fed. R. Crim. P. 37, advisory committee's notes. Rule 37 provides:
Fed. R. Crim. P. 37. As a companion to this rule, Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 12.1 provides that if the district court states it would grant a motion for an indicative ruling "or that the motion raises a substantial issue, the court of appeals may remand for further proceedings. . . ." Fed. R. App. P. 12.1(b).
The Government requests that this Court issue an indicative ruling stating that the Court would grant a motion to modify the written conditions of supervised release for Stokes's sentence. (Mot. 5:14-17.) The Government proposes new conditions as follows:
(Id. 2:5-16.)
Having considered the Government's motion and the record, the Court grants the motion for an indicative ruling. Should the case be remanded, and should the Government or Stokes move to modify the three conditions that Stokes is attacking on appeal, the Court would grant the motion.
That said, the Court would not adopt all of the Government's suggested amendments in place of the three problematic conditions. Upon reflection, the Court would eliminate Condition 4 in its entirety for Stokes. Similarly, the Court would eliminate Condition 13 for Stokes. Finally, the Court would amend Condition 5 to adopt the Government's proposed wording. Specifically, the Court would require that Stokes "shall work full time (at least 30 hours) at a lawful occupation, unless excused by the probation officer for schooling, training or other acceptable reasons."
For the foregoing reasons, the Court