UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE,
v.
PATRICK ELLSWORTH, RUSSELL SCOTT ROLOFF, DEFENDANTS-APPELLANTS

11th Cir. | 1987-04-13
No. 86-5148
Before FAY, ANDERSON and EDMONDSON, Circuit Judges.
814 F.2d 613 Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (1987) Negative Treatment
Cited by 12 cases

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Holding

The appellate court held it lacks jurisdiction to entertain a motion for sentence reduction, which must first be filed with the district court.


Facts & Procedural History

Appellant, a criminal defendant, sought a sentence reduction based on post-conviction cooperation with the government. He filed a motion directly with…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM:

PER CURIAM:

Appellant, Patrick Ellsworth, is a criminal defendant currently serving a sentence rendered against him in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. An appeal of appellant’s conviction is currently pending before this court. Because of cooperation with the Federal Government subsequent to his conviction, appellant seeks a reduction of sentence pursuant to Fed.R.Crim.P. 35(b). On February 26, 1987, appellant filed a motion in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals requesting that this court relinquish jurisdiction to the district court.

Motions for the reduction of sentences are addressed to the sound discretion of the district court. See United States v. Bethany, 489 F. 2d 91, 93 (5th Cir.1974)1 ; United States v. Sanders, 438 F. 2d 344, 344 (5th Cir.1971).

This court is without jurisdiction to entertain a motion which must be directed to the district court. See United States v. Cronic, 466 U.S. 648, 667 n. 42, 104 S.Ct. 2039, 2051 n. 42, 80 L.Ed.2d 657 (1984); United States v. Bascaro, 742 F. 2d 1335, 1344 (11th Cir.1984); United States v. Fuentes-Lozano, 580 F. 2d 724, 725 (5th Cir.1978).

The proper procedure after an appeal is taken is for a motion to be filed with the district court; the district court may either deny the motion on its merits or certify that the motion should be granted in order to afford the appellate court jurisdiction to entertain a motion to remand. See Cronic, 466 U.S. at 667 n. 42, 104 S.Ct. at 2051 n. 42; Bascaro, 742 F. 2d at 1344; United States v. Reeh, 725 F. 2d 633, 633 (11th Cir.1984); Fuentes-Lozano, 580 F. 2d at 725-26. Appellant has not filed his motion in the district court.

Accordingly, we have no jurisdiction to rule on its merits. Appellants motion is denied without prejudice to seek relief in the district court.

. The Eleventh Circuit, in Bonner v. City of Prichard, 661 F. 2d 1206, 1207 (11th Cir.1981) (en banc), adopted as precedent decisions of the former Fifth Circuit rendered prior to October 1, 1981.


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Citator

Cited By

  • United States v. Arango, 853 F.2d 818 (11th Cir. 1988)
    …he results to this court. In defendants’ response, counsel consented to the trial court’s resolution of the Brady issue raised by the government’s motion. The trial court determined that the proper procedure was that of United States v. Ellsworth, 814 F. 2d 613 (11th Cir.1987), and set the matter for an evidentiary hearing on May 13, 1987. Defense counsel was instructed to submit his post-trial motions prior to the evi-dentiary hearing. As such, counsel filed a Motion for Vacatur of Defendants’ Conviction…
  • United States v. Diaz-Clark, 292 F.3d 1310 (11th Cir. 2002)
    …emand. The government argued in opposition that the court could not regain jurisdiction because of the following: (1) the case was on appeal; (2) there was no pending motion that would warrant the filing of a motion under United States v. Ellsworth, 814 F. 2d 613 (11th Cir.1987); and (3) if Diaz-Clark were to file a motion for relief from judgment pursuant to Rule 60(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, so that he could raise this sentencing issue as a new basis for relief, such motion would of necess…
  • United States v. McNAB, 331 F.3d 1228 (11th Cir. 2003)
    …issued Honduran legal opinions with this Court. We denied those motions without prejudice and held that the motions could be renewed if the district court refused to certify its intention to grant a new trial pursuant to United States v. Ellsworth, 814 F. 2d 613 (11th Cir.1987) (per curiam). Based upon our order, in January of 2002 McNab filed a Motion for Order Certifying Intention to Grant New Trial Upon Remand with the district court, which was subsequently adopted by Blandford, Schoenwetter, and Huang…

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