Ortiz Torres v. United States, 42 F.3d 1384, 1st Cir. (1994)

42 F.
3d 1384
NOTICE: First Circuit Local Rule 36.2(b)6 states unpublished

opinions may be cited only in related cases.
Jannette ORTIZ-TORRES, Plaintiff, Appellant,
v.
UNITED STATES of America, Defendant, Appellee.
No. 93-2303
United States Court of Appeals,

First Circuit.
Dec 6, 1994
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Puerto
Rico [Hon. Hector M. Laffitte, U.S. District Judge ]
Jannette Ortiz-Torres on brief pro se.
Guillermo Gil, United States Attorney, Jose A. Quiles- Espinosa, Senior
Litigation Counsel, and Ernesto Hernandez-Milan, Assistant U.S.
Attorney, on brief for appellee.
D. Puerto Rico
AFFIRMED
Before TORRUELLA, Chief Judge, SELYA and CYR, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam.
Appellant challenges the denial of a motion under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2255, seeking
relief from her guilty plea and sentence. Finding no error, we affirm.
In December, 1987, appellant was arrested by customs officials along with

three travelling companions aboard a cruise ship docked in Puerto Rico. Each
of the four, who had boarded the ship together in Venezuela, was found to be
carrying a quantity of cocaine. The amount of cocaine in appellant's sole
possession was four kilograms. The total cocaine found among the packages
and suitcases of all four defendants was approximately 39 kilograms (gross

weight).
3
Having reason to believe that the four defendants were part of the same illegal
drug smuggling enterprise, the government obtained a joint indictment in which
they were charged in three counts with aiding and abetting one another in
importing, possessing, and possessing with intent to distribute, 34.5 kilograms
of the drug. Pursuant to a plea agreement, however, the government dismissed
the indictment against appellant in exchange for her guilty plea to a one count
information charging that she had unlawfully imported four kilograms of
cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 952(a).
The crime to which appellant pled guilty carries a mandatory minimum penalty
of five years and a maximum of 40 years imprisonment. See 21 U.S.C. Sec.
960(b)(2). The charges that were dropped carried a penalty of ten years to life
imprisonment. See 21 U.S.C. Secs. 960(b)(1).
Under the Sentencing Guidelines, appellant's base offense level is necessarily

determined by considering all conduct relevant to the offense of conviction. See
U.S.S.G. Sec. 1B1.3. The presentence report ["PSR"] recited that the four
defendants (three women and a man) had boarded the ship together and that the
three women's passports bore sequential numbers. Based on information from
the other women participants, the government believed that the man was the
head of the group, and appellant, who had shared a cabin with him, was the
second most culpable. Accordingly, the PSR recommended a guidelines base
offense level, 34, which corresponded with the total quantity of cocaine carried
by all four defendants. See U.S.S.G. Sec. 2D1.1. Appellant was credited with a
two level adjustment for acceptance of responsibility, and she was assigned a
criminal history category of "I" because, at age twenty, she had no prior
criminal record. This yielded a guidelines range of 121 to 151 months
imprisonment. The court sentenced her at the low end of the recommended
range, to 121 months imprisonment. She did not appeal.
In this motion, filed four years later, appellant's basic concern is that her plea
bargain did not lead to a lower sentence.1 She challenges her guilty plea as
involuntary and unintelligent, and alleges several errors in sentencing.
As to her guilty plea, appellant alleges that her counsel did not inform her, or
she did not understand, that the sentencing court could consider the total
quantity of cocaine covered in the dismissed counts. As appellant perceives it,
she thus netted no benefit from her plea bargain.
To succeed on a claim of ineffective assistance in the context of the plea

process, appellant must show both (1) that her counsel's representation fell
below the objective standard of reasonableness demanded of attorneys in
criminal cases, and (2) that she suffered "prejudice," meaning that there is a
reasonable probability that, but for counsel's errors, she would not have pled
guilty but would have insisted on going to trial. See Panzardi-Alvarez v. United
States, 879 F.2d 975 (1st Cir. 1989) (citing Hill v. Lockhart, 474 U.S. 52, 57-59
(1985)), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 1082 (1990).
Appellant's proof on the first prong is inadequate. She offers only her own
conclusory assertion that she was misinformed, an allegation that finds no
support in the available record. The plea agreement she signed made no
promises, but left sentencing to "the sound discretion of the Court in accordance
with the Sentencing Guidelines." In her plea petition she expressed an
awareness of the statutory penalty range of from five to forty years. While we
do not have the benefit of a plea hearing transcript, due to the loss of the
reporter's notes, appellant does not claim that her alleged misunderstanding
stemmed from any misinformation conveyed at the plea hearing.
10
Even if we assumed, however, that appellant was laboring under a

misapprehension attributable to an objectively unreasonable attorney error, her
allegations are insufficient to satisfy the "prejudice" prong of the claim. She
admits that she committed the offense to which she pled guilty, and offers no
reason to believe that but for counsel's allegedly erroneous advice, she would
have pled not guilty and insisted on going to trial. See Hill v. Lockhart, 474
U.S. 52, 59 (1985). The fact, if fact it is, that she reaped no benefit at
sentencing from her plea agreement, does not alone suffice to establish a claim
of ineffective assistance.2 See United States v. Wright, 873 F.2d 437, 441 (1st
Cir. 1989).
11
In short, appellant's belated allegations do not establish an entitlement to relief

from her plea under Sec. 2255. See United States v. Laliberte, 25 F.3d 10, 13
(1st Cir. 1994) (observing that Sec. 2255 relief from a plea is available after
sentencing only for "a fundamental defect which inherently results in a
complete miscarriage of justice," or "an omission inconsistent with the
rudimentary demands of fair procedure").
12
Appellant's challenge to the computation of her sentence has a dual premise.

Initially, she appears to argue that as a matter of constitutional due process, her
sentence should have been based solely on the four kilogram offense to which
she pled guilty. Second, she argues that the court misapplied the sentencing
guidelines by attributing to her as relevant conduct the combined total of 39
kilograms, when allegedly she had no knowledge that her fellow travellers were
carrying illegal drugs;3 and by failing to adjust her sentence downward for
"minimal participation" under U.S.S.G. Sec. 3B1.2.
13
It is well settled that there is no constitutional impediment to consideration by

the sentencing court of all conduct relevant to the offense in question. Wright,
873 F.2d at 437. "In the case of jointly undertaken criminal activity (whether or
not charged as a conspiracy) relevant conduct includes all acts reasonably
foreseeable by the defendant and committed in furtherance of the jointly
undertaken activity." United States v. Reyes, 3 F.3d 29 (1st Cir. 1993). We have
repeatedly upheld inclusion as relevant conduct of drug transactions that form
part of the same course of conduct as the count of conviction, regardless of
whether the transactions were never charged, or initially charged but dropped.
Reyes, 3 F.3d at 31; United States v. Blanco, 888 F.2d 907, 908-11 (1st Cir.
1989); Wright, 873 F.2d at 441.
14
Our review of the other sentencing errors alleged in this Sec. 2255 motion is
necessarily limited. Knight v. United States, F.3d , 1994 U.S. App. LEXIS
29659 (1st Cir. Oct. 20, 1994). Barring "exceptional circumstances,"
nonconstitutional, nonjurisdictional claims that could have been, but were not
raised at the appropriate time, may not be asserted by collateral attack. Knight,
Id. at 7.
15
Appellant defaulted on her claims twice. She failed to assert them at the
sentencing hearing, and she failed to take a direct appeal. Indeed, the available
record shows that appellant interposed no objections whatsoever to the PSR,
thus implicitly acquiescing in the judge's reliance upon it at sentencing.4 In the
absence of a showing of "cause" sufficient to excuse these defaults as well as a
showing of prejudice amounting to a "complete miscarriage of justice" or "an
omission inconsistent with the rudimentary demands of fair procedure," she
may not now assert them. See id. at 6 (quoting Hill v. United States, 368 U.S.
424, 428 (1962)).
16
Appellant attempts to excuse the defaults by a combination claim of attorney

ineffectiveness during sentencing and an alleged denial of an opportunity to
address the court or challenge the PSR. A constitutional claim of ineffective
assistance of counsel is not normally barred by a failure to raise it on direct
review. Id. at 10. However, this claim was not squarely presented nor ruled
upon below, so we will not address it for the first time on appeal.
17
We also note that appellant makes certain allegations with respect to the
sentencing hearing, without specifically mentioning the requirements of Fed. R.

Crim. P. 32 or our recent decision in United States v. De Alba-Pagan, No. 932018 (1st Cir. Aug. 26, 1994). The Rule 32 issue, like the related issue of
ineffectiveness of counsel during sentencing, was not squarely presented nor
ruled upon below. Moreover, the record on appeal does not contain a full
transcript of the sentencing hearing. For these reasons, we will not address this
issue for the first time on appeal.
18
Affirmed.
Had appellant's sentence excluded consideration of the quantity of drugs

covered by the dismissed counts, her base offense level would have been 30.
Using the same determinants, i.e., a two level reduction for acceptance of
responsibility and a criminal history category of "I," the guidelines range would
have been 78 to 97 months. Appellant also argues that she should have received
a downward adjustment for "minimal participation."
Appellant did reap a benefit from her plea for without it she likely would not
have received the two level reduction in her sentence for acceptance of
responsibility
Appellant's brief cites the 1989 and 1992 amendments to U.S.S.G. Sec.
1B1.3(a). U.S.S.G. App. C, Amends. 78 & 439 (Nov. 1993). The amendments
are "clarifying" rather than "revisionary" and thus may be consulted for
purposes of interpreting the applicable guideline on appeal, United States v.
LaCroix, 28 F.3d 223, 227, nn. 3-5 (1st Cir. 1994), or on an otherwise
cognizable Sec. 2255 motion, Isabel v. United States, 980 F.2d 60, 62 (1st Cir.
1992). The amendments are not a substitute, however, for the required Sec.
2255 showing of "cause" for appellant's earlier failure to raise her claims
because they are not made substantively retroactive. U.S.S.G. Sec. 1B1.10; cf.
McCleskey v. Zant, 499 U.S. 467, 487 (1991). We bypass for now, as
unnecessary to our disposition, further consideration of the relevance of the
"accomplice attribution" amendments to which appellant points, noting
however that U.S.S.G. Sec. 1B1.3(a) also covers acts "aided" and "abetted" by
the defendant, which well may be the "relevant conduct" included here.
U.S.S.G. Sec. 1B1.3(a)(1) (1988); see also U.S.S.G. App. C. Amend. 439 (Nov.
1993); LaCroix, 28 F.3d at 227
Because appellant offered no objection to the facts recited in the PSR, she also
waived the other alleged errors she asserts: that there was insufficient evidence
at sentencing to support the "relevant conduct" determination, and that the
judge failed to enter specific findings on facts she now perceives as

"controverted." See United States v. Benjamin, 30 F.3d 196, 197 (1st Cir. 1994)

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42 F.

NOTICE: First Circuit Local Rule 36.2(b)6 states unpublished

United States Court of Appeals,

In December, 1987, appellant was arrested by customs officials along with

and suitcases of all four defendants was approximately 39 kilograms (gross

Under the Sentencing Guidelines, appellant's base offense level is necessarily

To succeed on a claim of ineffective assistance in the context of the plea

Even if we assumed, however, that appellant was laboring under a

In short, appellant's belated allegations do not establish an entitlement to relief

Appellant's challenge to the computation of her sentence has a dual premise.

It is well settled that there is no constitutional impediment to consideration by

Appellant attempts to excuse the defaults by a combination claim of attorney

sentencing hearing, without specifically mentioning the requirements of Fed. R.

Had appellant's sentence excluded consideration of the quantity of drugs

judge failed to enter specific findings on facts she now perceives as

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