Thursday, October 28, 2021

A defendant cannot directly petition a court for compassionate release based on substantial assistance to bypass Rule 35(b)’s requirement that the government file a motion for sentence reduction exclusively on this ground

18 U.S.C. § 3582(c) provides various routes for a District Court to reduce a defendant’s sentence after sentencing. Subsection (c)(1)(A) permits courts, as modified by the First Step Act, to directly receive a defendant’s motion for compassionate release 30 days after he has requested such relief from his warden. This subsection requires consideration of the 3553(a) factors and a finding that “extraordinary and compelling reasons warrant such a reduction.”

Subsection (c)(1)(B) permits a sentence modification if “expressly permitted by statute or by Rule 35 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.” Rule 35(b) only permits sentence reduction one year after sentencing based on a defendant’s substantial assistance upon the government's motion. 

In United States v. Claude, https://www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/203563p.pdf, the Third Circuit held that a defendant may not use the compassionate release process to bypass Rule 35(b)’s requirement that the government bring a motion for sentence reduction based on a defendant’s post-sentencing substantial assistance in investigating or prosecuting another person. While a defendant cannot satisfy the “extraordinary and compelling reasons” standard for compassionate release based on his unilateral evaluation of his assistance, a District Court may consider such assistance in its compassionate release analysis. It can be “a relevant factor” just not serve as the only basis to establish extraordinary and compelling reasons.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Third Circuit Finds Defendant Was Not Seized Where He Briefly Paused and Raised Hands Before Fleeing

In United States v. Amos , ---F. 4th---, 2023 WL 8636910 (3d Cir. Dec. 14, 2023), the Third Circuit affirmed a district court's denial o...