United States v. Nicholas Teausant
714 F. App'x 676
| 9th Cir. | 2017Background
- Nicholas Teausant appealed a 144-month sentence for attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2339B(a)(1).
- The district court applied U.S.S.G. § 2M5.3 (the guideline for substantive § 2339B offenses) rather than the generic attempt guideline U.S.S.G. § 2X1.1.
- Teausant argued the court should have applied § 2X1.1, which would entitle him to a 3-level reduction in offense level.
- Even with the reduction under § 2X1.1, the calculated guideline range exceeded the statutory maximum (15 years then applicable), so the court capped the guideline range at the statutory maximum and then considered a variance under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).
- After considering mental health evaluations and § 3553(a) factors and expressing disagreement with the terrorism enhancement, the district court imposed 144 months (36 months below the statutory maximum).
- The Ninth Circuit found the guideline-selection error harmless and affirmed the substantive reasonableness of the 144-month sentence.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proper guideline for attempt | Teausant: § 2X1.1 (generic attempt) should apply, giving a 3-level reduction | Government: District court permissibly applied § 2M5.3 for § 2339B attempt | Court: Applying § 2M5.3 was error, but harmless because guideline range still exceeded statutory max even with § 2X1.1 reduction |
| Harmlessness of guideline error | Teausant: Error affected guideline calculation and sentence | Government: Any error was harmless because court would cap at statutory max and consider § 3553(a) factors | Court: Error harmless; district court would have capped range at 15 years regardless and proceeded to variance analysis |
| Substantive reasonableness of 144-month sentence | Teausant: Sentence excessive given mental health and other mitigating evidence | Government: Sentence reasonable after considering enhancements and § 3553(a) | Court: 144 months is substantively reasonable; district court properly varied downward from statutory maximum after § 3553(a) review |
| Use of terrorism enhancement | Teausant: Enhancement overstated; court should reject or mitigate it | Government: Enhancement applicable under guidelines | Court: District court permissibly disagreed with enhancement policy and offset it via § 3553(a) variance; within discretion |
Key Cases Cited
- United States v. Simon, 858 F.3d 1289 (9th Cir. 2017) (en banc) (requires use of § 2X1.1 for attempts unless another guideline expressly covers attempts)
- United States v. Ali, 620 F.3d 1062 (9th Cir. 2010) (harmless error doctrine in sentencing)
- Kimbrough v. United States, 552 U.S. 85 (2007) (district courts may vary from guidelines based on policy disagreements)
- United States v. Hernandez-Franco, 189 F.3d 1151 (9th Cir. 1999) (prior Ninth Circuit reasoning on attempts overruled by Simon)