United States v. Hardiman, No. 16-50422 (9th Cir. 2020)
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The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of Jermain Hardiman's motions under 28 U.S.C. 2255 and 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(2). A jury found that Hardiman was responsible for distributing at least 28 grams but less than 280 grams of cocaine base. At sentencing, the district court disagreed and found that Hardiman should be held responsible for more than 280 grams of cocaine base. After Hardiman’s direct appeal became final, the panel held in United States v. Pimentel-Lopez, 859 F.3d 1134 (9th Cir. 2016), that a district court is not entitled to make a drug quantity finding in excess of that found by the jury in its special verdict.
The panel held that Pimentel-Lopez announced a "new" rule of criminal procedure which is not retroactive under Teague v. Lane, 489 U.S. 288, 310 (1989). Accordingly, Pimentel-Lopez is inapplicable to Hardiman's section 2255 motion, and the district court did not err by denying the motion. The panel also held that the district court did not err at the section 3582(c)(2) proceeding by failing to revisit its drug quantity finding under Pimentel-Lopez and the Sixth Amendment. The panel explained that Hardiman's arguments about Pimentel-Lopez were not affected by Amendment 782 and therefore are outside the scope of the proceeding authorized by section 3582(c)(2). In this case, Hardiman does not otherwise argue that the district court abused its discretion by denying his section 3582(c)(2) motion based on its assessment of the section 3553(a) factors or the circumstances of his case.
Court Description: 28 U.S.C. § 2255 / 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2). In consolidated appeals, the panel affirmed the district court’s denial of Jermaine Hardiman’s motions under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 and 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) in light of United States v. Pimentel-Lopez, 859 F.3d 1134 (9th Cir. 2016), which held that a district court is not entitled to make a drug quantity finding in excess of that found by the jury in a special verdict. * The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). ** The Honorable Morrison C. England, Jr., United States Senior District Judge for the Eastern District of California, sitting by designation. UNITED STATES V. HARDIMAN 3 Hardiman argued that the district court erred by denying his § 2255 motion because, under Pimentel-Lopez, the court violated his Sixth Amendment rights when it found for sentencing purposes that he was responsible for distributing a higher amount of drugs than the jury specifically found. The panel held that Pimentel-Lopez announced a “new” rule of criminal procedure, and thus does not apply retroactively to cases on collateral review. Because Pimentel-Lopez is inapplicable to Hardiman’s § 2255 motion, the panel held that the district court did not err by denying it. Hardiman also argued that the district court erred by denying his § 3582(c)(2) motion in light of Pimentel-Lopez. The district court determined that Amendment 782 to the Sentencing Guidelines retroactively reduced Hardiman’s base offense level and that he was eligible to be resentenced pursuant to a new Guidelines range, but that the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors and the circumstances of his case did not warrant a sentencing reduction. The panel explained that Hardiman’s arguments about Pimentel-Lopez were not affected by Amendment 782 and therefore are outside the scope of the proceeding authorized by § 3582(c)(2). The panel concluded that the district court therefore did not err at the § 3582(c)(2) proceeding by failing to revisit its drug quantity finding under Pimentel-Lopez and the Sixth Amendment.
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