United States v. Stephone Brian Scales
699 F. App'x 194
| 4th Cir. | 2017Background
- Stephone Brian Scales pleaded guilty to distribution of cocaine base in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841.
- The district court imposed a within-Guidelines sentence; Scales appealed claiming the sentence might be unreasonable.
- Appellate counsel filed an Anders brief stating no meritorious issues but questioning sentence reasonableness; Scales did not file a pro se brief.
- The Fourth Circuit reviewed for procedural and substantive reasonableness under an abuse-of-discretion standard.
- The appellate court examined the presentence report and sentencing transcript to assess Guidelines calculation and the district court’s explanation.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Procedural reasonableness of sentence calculation | Scales questioned whether the Guidelines range was properly applied | Government argued the Guidelines range was correctly calculated and applied | Court held the district court properly calculated the advisory Guidelines range and made adequate findings |
| Sufficiency of district court’s explanation for sentence | Scales implied the court failed to sufficiently explain the sentence | Government maintained the court’s explanation adequately addressed § 3553(a) factors | Court found the district court sufficiently explained its reasons for the sentence |
| Substantive reasonableness of within-Guidelines sentence | Scales challenged the substantive fairness of the sentence | Government argued a within-Guidelines sentence is presumptively reasonable | Court held Scales failed to rebut the presumption; sentence substantively reasonable |
| Availability of appellate issues under Anders | Counsel contended there were no nonfrivolous issues for appeal | Government agreed no meritorious issues were present | Court affirmed, having found no meritorious issues after full review |
Key Cases Cited
- Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967) (procedure for counsel to withdraw when appeal is frivolous)
- Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38 (2007) (standards for procedural and substantive reasonableness review)
- United States v. Louthian, 756 F.3d 295 (4th Cir. 2014) (presumption that within-Guidelines sentence is reasonable)