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UNITED STATES v. AURELIEN (2021)

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.2021-04-21No. No. 19-13597

Summary

Holding. The court granted the motion for summary reversal, vacated the sentence, and remanded the case for the district court to provide Aurelien with a proper opportunity to object to the sentencing determination.

Marvas Aurelien appealed his 92-month sentence for felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, arguing that the district court violated established precedent by failing to give him a meaningful opportunity to object to the sentence after it was imposed. The district court asked only a general question—whether Aurelien had anything he wished to state—without specifically inviting objections to the court's factual findings, legal conclusions, or sentencing pronouncement. The court found this approach insufficient under the controlling standard, which requires district courts to explicitly elicit fully developed objections from the parties after sentencing.

Because the procedural error was clear and undisputed—the government itself conceded the violation—the appellate court granted Aurelien's motion for summary reversal. The court vacated the sentence and returned the case to the district court so that Aurelien could formally present his objections, including his claim that the court had wrongly found him guilty of robbery rather than grand theft in calculating his sentence.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Whether post-sentencing inquiry complies with requirement to elicit objections
  • Standard for meaningful opportunity to object after sentencing imposed
  • Harmless error analysis when district court fails to follow objection procedure

Procedural posture

Aurelien moved for summary reversal of his sentence, asserting that the district court failed to afford him an opportunity to lodge objections after pronouncement of sentence.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

Marvas Aurelien moves for summary reversal of his 92-month sentence for possessing a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon. Aurelien contends that the district court did not give him an opportunity to object after it imposed the sentence, as required by United States v. Jones, 899 F.2d 1097 (11th Cir. 1990), overruled on another ground by United States v. Morrill, 984 F.2d 1136 (11th Cir. 1993). The government, in response, concedes that the district court didnt comply with Jones and that we should vacate his sentence and remand to allow Aurelien to object. Having independently reviewed the record, we agree.

After the district court imposed the 92-month sentence, it asked Aurelien, “[i]s there anything youd like to state to the [c]ourt now that I have sentenced you? Anything?” Weve held that similar post-sentencing questions did not comply with Jones. See United States v. Campbell, 473 F.3d 1345, 1348 (11th Cir. 2007) (holding that the district court failed to elicit fully articulated objections and violated Jones where it asked, post-sentence, “[i]s there anything further?” or “anything else?” and neither party responded with objections).

Jones requires that “after imposing a sentence, the district court must give the parties an opportunity to object to the courts ultimate findings of fact, conclusions of law, and the manner in which the sentence is pronounced, and must elicit a full articulation of the grounds upon which any objection is based.” Id. at 1347 (citing Jones, 899 F.2d at 1102). Aurelien did not get his chance to object. Where “a district court fails to elicit objections after imposing a sentence, we normally vacate the sentence and remand to the district court to give the parties an opportunity to present their objections.” Id. (citing Jones, 899 F.2d at 1103).

Thats what we will do here. Because Aurelien is “clearly right as a matter of law” that the district court did not comply with Jones and there is “no substantial question as to the outcome of the case,” Groendyke Transp., Inc. v. Davis, 406 F.2d 1158, 1162 (5th Cir. 1969), we grant his motion for summary reversal, vacate his sentence, and remand to give him the opportunity to present his objections.

1

On remand, Aurelien will be able to object that the district court erred in finding that he was convicted of robbery in 2015 and erred in calculating his offense level based on the erroneous robbery finding. Aurelien also will be able to introduce the state courts January 2021 corrected judgment showing that he was convicted of grand theft, not robbery, in 2015.

MOTION FOR SUMMARY REVERSAL GRANTED, SENTENCE VACATED, AND REMANDED FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS

FOOTNOTES

1

.   All other motions are DENIED AS MOOT.

PER CURIAM: