United States v. Saldana

* Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that
this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except
under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH CIR. R. 47.5.4.
United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
F I L E D
June 24, 2005
Charles R. Fulbruge III
Clerk
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
Nos. 04-50527 & 04-50591
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Plaintiff-Appellee
versus
SAMUEL SALDANA, JR
Defendant-Appellant
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Appeals from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Texas
(7:03-CR-147-ALL)
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Before JONES, WIENER, and CLEMENT, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:*
IT IS ORDERED that the district court supplement its final
order of judgment and commitment for Samuel Saldana, specifically
setting forth the reasons for which the court upwardly departed in
sentencing the defendant. Although the district court expressed
reasons orally, its original order stated only that it upwardly
departed under U.S.S.G. § 5K2.0, the policy statement that sets
forth the general rules for departure under the United States
Sentencing Guidelines. This general reference does not specify any
particular grounds or reasons for departing or for the extent of

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the departure, and thus fails to fulfill the mandatory requirements
of 18 U.S.C. § 3553(c)(2) for the sentencing court to commit its
reasons for a departure to writing. Neither is the district
court’s order sufficiently specific to permit us to determine the
reasonableness of the court’s departure from the guidelines range.
Retaining jurisdiction for further proceedings following remand,
this panel remands this case to the district court for the limited
purpose of having it render a supplemental order expressing its
reasons for upwardly departing. We request that the court do so as
expeditiously as practicable.
REMANDED.

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