USA v. Marques Deangelo Howard

[DO NOT PUBLISH]
In the
United States Court of Appeals
For the Eleventh Circuit
____________________
No. 23-10882
Non-Argument Calendar
____________________
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
MARQUES DEANGELO HOWARD,
Defendant-Appellant.
____________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
D.C. Docket No. 8:22-cr-00238-KKM-SPF-1
____________________
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2 Opinion of the Court 23-10882
Before J ORDAN , R OSENBAUM, and BRANCH, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Marques Howard, proceeding with counsel, appeals his
207-month total sentence for conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act rob-
bery, substantive Hobbs Act robbery, carrying and discharging a
firearm in relation to a crime of violence, and possession of a fire-
arm by a convicted felon. The government, in turn, has moved for
summary reversal, agreeing with Howard’s claim that the district
court erroneously calculated his advisory guideline range.
Summary disposition is appropriate either when time is of
the essence, such as “situations where important public policy is-
sues are involved or those where rights delayed are rights denied,”
or where “the position of one of the parties is clearly right as a mat-
ter of law so that there can be no substantial question as to the out-
come of the case, or where, as is more frequently the case, the ap-
peal is frivolous.” Groendyke Transp., Inc. v. Davis, 406 F.2d 1158,
1161-62 (5th Cir. 1969).
We review de novo the interpretation and application of the
Sentencing Guidelines. United States v. Dupree, 57 F.4th 1269, 1272
(11th Cir. 2023) (en banc). But when a defendant fails to raise an
argument before the district court, we review for only plain error.
United States v. Johnson, 694 F.3d 1192, 1195 (11th Cir. 2012); Fed. R.
Crim. P. 52(b). “Plain error occurs where (1) there is an error; (2)
that is plain or obvious; (3) affecting the defendant’s substantial
rights in that it was prejudicial and not harmless; and (4) that
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23-10882 Opinion of the Court 3
seriously affects the fairness, integrity or public reputation of the
judicial proceedings.” Johnson, 694 F.3d at 1195 (quotation marks
omitted).
For an error to be obvious under plain-error review, “it must
be plain under controlling precedent or in view of the unequivo-
cally clear words of a statute or rule.” Id. (quotation marks omit-
ted). An appellant may satisfy the second prong of the plain-error
test by showing that the error is plain at the time of appellate con-
sideration. Henderson v. United States, 568 U.S. 266, 279 (2013).
“When a defendant is sentenced under an incorrect Guidelines
range—whether or not the defendant’s ultimate sentence falls
within the correct range—the error itself can, and most often will,
be sufficient to show a reasonable probability of a different out-
come absent the error.” Molina-Martinez v. United States, 578 U.S.
189, 198 (2016). Likewise, “[t]he risk of unnecessary deprivation of
liberty particularly undermines the fairness, integrity, or public rep-
utation of judicial proceedings in the context of a plain Guidelines
error because of the role the district court plays in calculating the
range and the relative ease of correcting the error.” Rosales-Mireles
v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 1897, 1908 (2018).
The sentencing table in Chapter Five of the Guidelines man-
ual provides that a criminal-history category of III, combined with
an offense level of 22, results in an advisory guideline range of 51
to 63 months’ imprisonment. U.S.S.G. Ch. 5, Pt. A.
Here, we grant summary reversal as to Howard’s sentence
because the district court plainly erred in finding Howard’s total
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4 Opinion of the Court 23-10882
offense level. Howard had a base offense level of 20 and 5 levels of
applicable enhancements. So Howard’s adjusted offense level to-
taled 25, not 28. This error increased Howard’s advisory guideline
range from 51 to 63 months to 70 to 87 months. That is an error
that clearly affected Howard’s substantial rights and the fairness,
integrity, or public reputation of the judicial proceedings.
Because the parties’ position is clearly correct as a matter of
law, we GRANT the government’s motion for summary reversal.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
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