United States v. Nickerson

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit F I L E D IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT August 31, 2006 Charles R. Fulbruge III No. 05-10954 Clerk Summary Calendar UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus ANANIAS DEMETRIUS NICKERSON, Defendant-Appellant. -------------------- Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas No. 3:99-CR-112-6 -------------------- Before SMITH, WIENER, and OWEN, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM:* Ananias Nickerson pleaded guilty of possession with intent to distribute cocaine base; he was sentenced to 27 months of imprison- ment and five years of supervised release. He appeals the three- year term of imprisonment imposed following the revocation of his term of supervised release. Nickerson argues that the district court erred by refusing to hold his revocation hearing within a reasonable time under FED. R. * Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circum- stances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4. No. 05-10954 -2- CRIM. P. 32.1. The Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial is not applicable to revocation hearings. See United States v. Tippens, 39 F.3d 88, 89-90 (5th Cir. 1994). The right to a revocation hear- ing accrues once the warrant has been executed and the defendant has been taken into federal custody. Id. Nevertheless, due pro- cess rights may be impeded by a delay in the execution of a warrant “if the delay undermines [defendant’s] ability to contest the issue of the violation or to proffer mitigating evidence.” Id. The rec- ord does not reflect that Nickerson suffered any specific prejudice from the delay in executing the warrant. Moreover, the two-month delay between the execution of the warrant and the revocation hear- ing was not unreasonable. Nickerson argues that the sentence is unreasonable. Although the three-year term of imprisonment imposed on revocation of super- vised release exceeded the sentencing range indicated by the policy statements in chapter 7 of the sentencing guidelines, it did not exceed the statutory maximum term of imprisonment the district court could have imposed. See 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e)(3). According- ly, Nickerson’s revocation sentence was neither “unreasonable” nor “plainly unreasonable.” See United States v. Hinson, 429 F.3d 114, 120 (5th Cir. 2005), cert. denied, 126 S. Ct. 1804 (2006). AFFIRMED.