United States v. Carbajal-Martinez

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit F I L E D In the May 26, 2005 United States Court of Appeals Charles R. Fulbruge III for the Fifth Circuit Clerk _______________ m 03-10709 _______________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, VERSUS JOSE CARBAJAL-MARTINEZ, Defendant-Appellant. _________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas m 4:03-CR-35-ALL ______________________________ ON REMAND FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES Before SMITH and WIENER, justify an upward departure, which, as the Circuit Judges.* government states, “was not mandated by the guidelines, but was within the district court’s PER CURIAM:** discretion.” Even assuming arguendo that the court made findings that would violate Booker, This court affirmed Jose Carbajal-Marti- it is undisputed that Carbajal-Martinez did not nez’s sentence. United States v. Carbajal- raise a Sixth Amendment objection or com- Martinez, 87 Fed. Appx. 368 (5th Cir. 2004) plain that the facts at issue must be decided by (per curiam). The Supreme Court vacated and a jury if not admitted to by the defendant. So, remanded for further consideration in light of even if there was Booker error, the govern- United States v. Booker, 125 S. Ct. 738 ment correctly contends, in the alternative, that (2005). Carbajal-Martinez v. United States, the plain error standard of review should apply 125 S. Ct. 1110 (2005). We requested and re- because Carbajal-Martinez did not preserve a ceived supplemental letter briefs addressing the Sixth Amendment error. See United States v. impact of Booker. Mares, 402 F.3d 511, 520 (5th Cir. 2005), petition for cert. filed (Mar. 31, 2005) Carbajal-Martinez claims there is error (No. 04-9517). under Booker because the district court, rather than a jury, made what we described in our “An appellate court may not correct an initial opinion as “factual findings regarding error the defendant failed to raise in the district the nature and extent of Carbajal’s criminal court unless there is ‘(1) error, (2) that is plain, history.” The district court largely adopted the and (3) that affects substantial rights.’” Id. recommendations in the presentence report, (quoting United States v. Cotton, 535 U.S. which narrated some of the details of Carbajal- 625, 631 (2002)). If there is plain error here, Martinez’s past crimes. only the first two prongs are satisfied. The government claims there is no Booker With regard to the third prong, under Mar- error because the district court used the facts es, “the defendant rather than the government regarding Carbajal-Martinez’s criminal past to bears the burden of persuasion with respect to prejudice.” Mares, 402 F.3d at 521 (citing United States v. Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 734 * Judge Duhé was a member of this panel when (1993)). To show that his substantial rights the opinion issued on February 12, 2004. Al- are affected, Carbajal-Martinez must “point[] though he remains a Senior Circuit Judge on this to . . . evidence in the record suggesting that court, he is currently not hearing cases. Accord- the district court would have imposed a lesser ingly, this matter is decided by a quorum. See sentence under an advisory guidelines system.” 28 U.S.C. § 46(d). United States v. Taylor, No. 03-10167, 2005 ** U.S. App. LEXIS 8701, at *4 (5th Cir. May Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has de- 17, 2005) (per curiam) (citations omitted). In termined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited other words, “the pertinent question is whether circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4. [the defendant] demonstrated that the sentenc- 2 ing judgeSSsentencing under an advisory scheme rather than a mandatory oneSSwould have reached a significantly different result.” Mares, 402 F.3d at 521. Carbajal-Martinez has presented nothing to satisfy that burden. The district court’s considerable departure (from a guidelines range of 77-96 months to a sentence of 180 months) shows that the court was not influ- enced by any factual findings that may have affected the calculation of the range. Accord- ingly, the judgment of sentence is AFFIRMED. 3