UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE,
v.
FREDESVINO AVILA-ISCOA, DEFENDANT-APPELLANT

5th Cir. | 1989-11-08
No. 89-2034
Before GEE, DAVIS and JONES, Circuit Judges:
888 F.2d 1049 Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (1989) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.


Holding

The court held that the sentencing judge's upward departure was justified based on the offense's location on the high seas and its victim, and that the defendant received adequate notice.


Facts & Procedural History

Avila, a crew member, assaulted the captain of a fishing vessel, pleaded guilty, and received a sentence with a substantial upward departure from the …

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM:

[*1050] PER CURIAM:

In July 1988, Appellant Avila was a crew member on the tuna-fishing vessel “Daniel J” in the Gulf of Mexico. Having skipped breakfast because he did not care for the food, he worked for a half-day and, around noon, appropriated for lunch a small fish that had been personally caught by the boat-captain. When the captain denied him the fish, he refused to do further work, whereupon the captain advised him that he would not be paid for the work he had done earlier on the voyage. Later that day, while the captain was eating his supper, Avila purloined a pistol from the captain’s quarters, demanded to be paid, and — being again rebuffed — shot the captain in the leg, inflicting serious injury. Indicted, Avila pleaded guilty and was sentenced to an eight year term of imprisonment, representing a substantial upward departure from the adjusted guideline sentencing level of 41-51 months.

On appeal, he complains of the departure on two grounds: that it rests on factors already considered in setting the guidelines — discharging a firearm and causing serious bodily injury, that the court failed to make necessary findings of fact, and that the court departed from the standard sentencing range without having given Avila notice of the basis for its upward departure. We AFFIRM.

The court stated with great specificity that the basis of its upward departure was, not the factors mentioned above but rather the location of the offense on the high seas and its object, the captain of a vessel. These circumstances were specifically referred to by the court in passing sentence, and they are factors of great gravity. As we have had occasion to observe, “we are aware of no other civil calling, for example, in which obedience to the employer’s orders is enforced by criminal sanctions.” Donovan v. Texaco, Inc., 720 F. 2d 825, 828 (5th Cir.1983). There was no need for the court to make findings of fact as to these factors, as they are not in dispute, nor can it rationally be maintained that they have already been taken into account by the guidelines in setting the allowable range of punishment for the felonious assault of which Avila was found guilty.

As for the final complaint, Rule 32(a)(1) Fed.R.Crim.P. provides that the court may base sentencing decisions on matters not raised in the presentence report so long as an opportunity is afforded the defense to address the court regarding such matters, so that the accuracy of sentencing information is not defeated. United States v. Otero, 868 F. 2d 1412, 1415 (5th Cir.1989). The record transcript of the sentencing hearing reveals that the defense was permitted to address the court fully on the location and circumstances of the shooting, and this complaint is therefore meritless.

AFFIRMED.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw