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UNITED STATES v. MARTINEZ (2021)

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.2021-10-20No. No. 20-50984

Summary

Holding. The court granted appellate counsel's motion to withdraw and dismissed the appeal, finding no nonfrivolous issue regarding the supervised release conditions.

Martinez pleaded guilty to drug and gun charges and appealed. His appellate counsel sought to withdraw under Anders v. California, arguing the appeal lacked merit. The court asked counsel to examine whether a discrepancy existed between the oral pronouncement of supervised release conditions at sentencing and the written judgment. Counsel filed a supplemental brief maintaining that no appealable issue existed, and Martinez did not object to withdrawal.

The court agreed that no nonfrivolous basis for appeal existed regarding the supervised release conditions. The district court had announced it was imposing standard and mandatory conditions of supervision, and the written judgment later listed the standard conditions from the Western District of Texas's standing order. Because Martinez received notice at sentencing that standard conditions would be imposed and had opportunity to object but did not, the court found no pronouncement problem. The conditions in the judgment matched those announced orally.

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

Key issues

  • Whether oral pronouncement of supervised release conditions must specifically cite a district's standing order
  • Whether a defendant who receives notice of standard conditions and opportunity to object has adequate notice for sentencing purposes
  • Whether variance exists between oral pronouncement and written judgment when both reference standard conditions

Procedural posture

After Martinez pleaded guilty, his appellate counsel moved to withdraw under Anders v. California, and the court examined whether an appealable issue existed regarding supervised release conditions.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

Joshua Martinez pleaded guilty to drug and gun crimes. He filed a notice of appeal, but his attorney later moved to withdraw under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967). See also United States v. Flores, 632 F.3d 229 (5th Cir. 2011). Although Martinez did not object to his attorneys view that an appeal would be frivolous, we asked the attorney to address whether a conflict existed between “the oral pronouncement of the conditions of supervised release at sentencing and the written judgment setting forth those conditions.” See United States v. Diggles, 957 F.3d 551, 556–59 (5th Cir.) (en banc), cert. denied, ––– U.S. ––––, 141 S. Ct. 825, 208 L.Ed.2d 404 (2020). Counsel filed a supplemental Anders brief that addressed that issue and continued to maintain that an appeal was not warranted. Again, Martinez did not object.

We agree with defense counsel that a nonfrivolous basis for appealing the supervised release conditions does not exist. We thus will grant the motion to withdraw.

It is worth explaining why the pronouncement of supervised release conditions in this case does not present an appealable issue under our recent en banc decision in Diggles. Martinezs Presentence Report recommended the “mandatory and standard conditions of supervision” as well as a search condition. At sentencing, the district court confirmed that Martinez had reviewed the Presentence Report and did not object to it. The court then announced that it was adopting the Presentence Report. It also told Martinez that the court was imposing “the standard and mandatory conditions of supervision” as well as the recommended search condition. The written judgment that later issued included the 17 standard conditions listed in the Western District of Texass Order on Conditions of Probation and Supervised Release. See also Diggles, 957 F.3d at 561 & n.6 (noting with approval the longstanding practice in some districts of standing orders that list recommended conditions).

The only conceivable pronouncement problem is that the district court did not cite the districts standing order when it orally imposed the “standard conditions.” As defense counsel explains, however, that does not provide a basis for appeal. Because the court told Martinez it was imposing “standard conditions,” he had notice and an opportunity to object (or, at a minimum, to ask for more specificity about the conditions). Martinez did not object, so any appeal would be subject to plain error review. Id. at 560 (explaining that an opportunity to object “exists when the court notifies the defendant at sentencing that conditions are being imposed”).

We have difficulty seeing any error—and certainly not the obvious one necessary to correct forfeited issues, see id. at 559 (citing Puckett v. United States, 556 U.S. 129, 135, 129 S.Ct. 1423, 173 L.Ed.2d 266 (2009))—in orally imposing “standard conditions” and then including in the judgment the districts usual “standard conditions.” There is no notice problem. Even before sentencing, the Presentence Report notified Martinez that “standard conditions” would likely be imposed. The Western Districts standing order provided “advance notice” of what those conditions might be. Id. at 560. At sentencing, the court twice notified Martinez that it was imposing standard conditions. First, it adopted the PSR, which recommends standard conditions. Second, it announced that it would impose “standard” conditions. Given the longstanding existence of the Western Districts standing order, defense counsel certainly knew that the standard conditions being imposed were the ones listed in the standing order and included in the judgment form created by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. See United States v. Cabello, 916 F.3d 543, 546 (5th Cir. 2019) (Elrod, J., concurring) (observing that the four district courts in Texas have issued orders that incorporate the standard conditions listed in the AOs judgment form). Indeed, Martinezs appellate counsel acknowledges this common understanding in seeking to dismiss the appeal.

Martinez thus had in-court notice of the conditions being imposed and ample opportunity to object. As that notice and opportunity to object are the hallmarks of the pronouncement requirement, the district court complied with Diggles. See 957 F.3d at 560 (holding that the “pronouncement requirement” is satisfied when the sentencing court “gives notice of the sentence and an opportunity to object”). There is no variance between the written judgment and the conditions pronounced at sentencing.

Accordingly, counsels motion for leave to withdraw is GRANTED and the appeal is DISMISSED. See 5th Cir. R. 42.2.

Gregg Costa, Circuit Judge: