F I L E D
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
UNITED STATES CO URT O F APPEALS
November 2, 2006
TENTH CIRCUIT Elisabeth A. Shumaker
Clerk of Court
U N ITED STA TES O F A M ER ICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee, No. 05-8101
v. (D . of W yo.)
C HRISTO PH ER BLA S PA D ILLA, (D.C. No. 05-CR-148-D)
Defendant-Appellant.
OR D ER AND JUDGM ENT *
Before HA RTZ, EBEL, and T YM KOVICH, Circuit Judges. **
Pursuant to a plea agreement, Defendant-Appellant Christopher Padilla was
convicted of conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with intent to distribute in
violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B) and 846. He now appeals his
76-month sentence, alleging ineffective assistance of counsel. For the reasons
stated below, we AFFIRM .
*
This order is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law of
the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. The court generally disfavors the
citation of orders; nevertheless, an order may be cited under the terms and
conditions of 10th Cir. R. 36.3.
**
After examining the briefs and the appellate record, this three-judge
panel has determined unanimously that oral argument would not be of material
assistance in the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a); 10th
Cir. R. 34.1(G). The cause is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument.
I. Background
Padilla was arrested on M arch 28, 2005. The complaint against him
contained four counts: (1) conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute
methamphetamine; (2) actual distribution of methamphetamine; (3) actual
distribution of cocaine; and (4) using a controlled substance unlaw fully while in
possession of a firearm. After waiving his right to a preliminary hearing and a
speedy trial, Padilla, with the assistance of counsel, entered into plea negotiations
with the Government. On July 13, 2005, Padilla and the Government filed a plea
agreement stipulating that Padilla would plead guilty only to the conspiracy
charge. The agreement further stipulated that Padilla would agree to a two-level
enhancement of his offense level for the crime and that the Government would
recommend a sentence at the low end of the advisory Guideline range. Padilla
entered this plea in the face of uncertainty regarding his criminal history level. In
particular, he w as unsure at the time of his plea w hether his criminal history
category would be I, II or III. The district court informed him of the impact this
could have on his eventual sentence.
The presentence report assigned Padilla a criminal history category of III.
Combined with his offense level of 25 this yielded an advisory sentencing range
of 70 to 87 months incarceration. Padilla filed a motion for downward departure,
arguing that the presentence report overstated his criminal history. The district
court denied the motion and sentenced Padilla to 76 months.
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Padilla filed a timely notice of appeal, arguing the sentence was
unreasonable and that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. Believing
this appeal frivolous, Padilla’s counsel, Richard Jamison, filed a brief along with
a motion to withdraw under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967).
II. Discussion
A. Sentencing Error
Padilla’s first contention is that the district court erred in sentencing him to
76 months despite the parties’ stipulated recommendation for a sentence of 70
months. 2 W e construe this as an argument that the sentence is unreasonable under
United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005) and 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).
A sentence within a correctly calculated Guideline range is entitled to a
presumption of reasonableness. United States v. Kristl, 437 F.3d 1050, 1054–55
(10th Cir. 2006). “The defendant may rebut this presumption by demonstrating
that the sentence is unreasonable in light of the . . . sentencing factors laid out in
2
Padilla also argues that the district court erred when it denied his motion
for a downward departure. This argument is without merit. Before United States
v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005), this court did not review a district court’s
decision to deny a downward departure except where the district court clearly
believed itself legally precluded from doing so. See United States v. Fortier, 180
F.3d 1217, 1231 (10th Cir. 1999). This made sense in the era of the mandatory
Guidelines and is arguably superfluous now that the Guidelines are advisory and
all sentences are subject to review for reasonableness. Nonetheless, the district
court in this case made clear it had discretion to grant Padilla’s motion for
downward departure and we therefore have no basis to review this outside the
overall context of reasonableness.
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§ 3553(a).” Id. at 1055. The district court correctly calculated the applicable
Guideline range given Padilla’s criminal history category and offense level. The
court’s sentence, while not the sentence recommended by Padilla and the
Government, nonetheless fell within the advisory Guideline range. It is therefore
entitled to a presumption of reasonableness. Id. at 1054–55. On appeal, Padilla
has provided no basis upon which this presumption should be questioned, let
alone rebutted. In addition to his attorney’s Anders brief, Padilla has submitted
only a four-page statement arguing the ineffectiveness of his counsel. Because
Padilla’s sentence is presumptively reasonable and because Padilla has not
rebutted this presumption, we conclude that the sentence imposed was reasonable.
B. Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
Padilla next argues that Jamison provided him ineffective assistance and
this resulted in his unsatisfactory plea bargain and sentence. The Supreme Court
has noted that “[i]n light of the way our system has developed, in most cases a
motion [for habeas corpus] brought under § 2255 is preferable to direct appeal for
deciding claims of ineffective assistance.” M assaro v. United States, 538 U.S.
500, 504 (2003). This is because the pursuit of an ineffective assistance claim on
direct appeal requires the appellate court to proceed on a trial court record not
developed with the object of proving ineffective assistance in mind. This concern
animated our holding that “[i]neffective assistance of counsel claims ‘should be
brought in collateral proceedings, not on direct appeal. Such claims brought on
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direct appeal are presumptively dismissible, and virtually all will be dismissed.’”
United States v. Calderon, 428 F.3d 928, 931 (10th Cir. 2005) (quoting United
States v. Galloway, 56 F.3d 1239, 1240 (10th Cir. 1995)).
Padilla bases his argument for ineffective assistance on Jamison’s failure to
“present the two key witnesses in [sic] Defendants [sic] behalf that Defendant had
two notarized statements from. . . .” Aplt. Br. at 1. These statements are alleged
to be those of cellmates of prisoners with knowledge of a plot by associates of
Padilla to have the charges against Padilla trumped-up by offering false testimony
to prosecutors about Padilla’s use of a firearm in the collection of drug debts.
Even assuming the accuracy and persuasiveness of these statements, Padilla’s
ineffective assistance claim raises precisely the concerns about record
development articulated by the Supreme Court in M assaro. W hile “[t]here may
be cases in which trial counsel’s ineffectiveness is so apparent from the record”
that such concerns are not borne out, this is not such a case. M assaro, 538 U.S. at
508.
III. Conclusion
For the foregoing reasons, we AFFIRM the district court and GRANT
Jam ison’s motion to w ithdraw .
Entered for the Court
Timothy M . Tymkovich
Circuit Judge
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