United States v. Robert E. HinesUnited States v. Robert E. Hines
LOKEN, Circuit Judge.
Robert E. Hines pleaded guilty to drug and firearm offenses. The district court sentenced him to ninety months in prison and three years of supervised release. The court also imposed a fine of approximately $300,000, based upon the fact that Hines will receive $1,550,000 in personal injury settlement payments over the next thirty-five years. Hines appeals this fine. We conclude that, while the fine is not constitutionally excessive, the district court erred in refusing to consider “the burden that the fine will impose upon . . . any person who is financially dependent on the defendant,” namely, Hines‘s new wife and stepson.
Hines was charged with possession of an unregistered firearm in violation of
In 1986, Hines was hit by a truck, sustaining injuries that left him 23% permanently disabled. He settled his personal injury claim in 1989. At the time of sentencing, the following “Deferred Lump Sum Payments” remained to be paid under this settlement:
| February 12, 1997 -- $ 25,000 | February 12, 1999 -- $ 25,000 |
| 2002 -- $ 50,000 | 2004 -- $ 50,000 |
| 2007 -- $ 50,000 | 2009 -- $ 50,000 |
| 2012 -- $105,000 | 2014 -- $105,000 |
| 2017 -- $105,000 | 2019 -- $105,000 |
| 2022 -- $220,000 | 2024 -- $220,000 |
| 2027 -- $220,000 | 2029 -- $220,000 |
The settlement agreement provides that Hines may not accelerate, increase, or decrease the deferred payments. It also states: “To the extent provided by law, the aforesaid deferred lump sum payments shall not be subject to transfer . . . or encumbrance.”
At sentencing, the district court advised that it intended to take these future payments into account in imposing an appropriate fine. The government urged that the fine be payable immediately because Hines will not receive the bulk of the settlement proceeds for more than twenty years, but the court may only require installment payments of a fine for five years, and the government‘s lien securing the payment of a fine expires in twenty years (unless Hines agrees to a longer term). See
The court imposed a fine of $150,000 plus incarceration costs of $1734 per month.2 The court made the entire fine payable immediately. Thus, the government will be entitled to the full amount of each deferred settlement payment until the year 2012, some ten years after Hines is released from prison. On appeal, Hines challenges the amount of the fine, and the fact that its terms of payment leave his wife and stepson with no financial support during his incarceration. He notes that his wife recently lost her job, his stepson has large medical bills, and the settlement payments will average only $12,500 per year until 2002. He further argues that the fine is excessive under the Eighth Amendment -- it is “ten time greater than the largest fine imposed in the Western District of Missouri at any time from the commission of his criminal conduct to the date of sentencing.”
“[T]he Guidelines require that ‘[t]he court shall impose a fine in all cases, except where the defendant establishes that he is unable to pay and is not likely to become able to pay any fine.’
Accordingly, we must remand for resentencing. Because few cases discuss the imposition of fines under the Guidelines, or the impact of the Eighth Amendment prohibition on “excessive fines,” we add the following comments concerning these sentencing issues.
First, we are concerned that the record does not permit a comparison between the amount of the immediately payable fine and Hines‘s present ability to pay a fine. If the fine were deferred in the same manner as the settlement payments, then we could compare $300,000 to $1,550,000 in determining Hines‘s ability to pay and the impact of the fine on his dependents. But Congress does not allow long-deferred fine obligations, and it only provides the government a twenty-year lien, so the district court made the fine payable immediately. Obviously, that term makes the fine, in the short run, greatly exceed Hines‘s ability to pay.
To determine the appropriate level of a payable immediately fine under the Guidelines, the court needs to determine the present value of the deferred payment stream. This is relevant because Hines may be required to liquidate this right to future income (or any other illiquid asset) to meet his obligation to pay an appropriate fine. The question is complicated here by the anti-alienation and anti-encumbrance provisions of the settlement
Second, we are concerned that the terms of the fine and the conditions of Hines‘s supervised release have not been properly integrated. The standard Judgment and Commitment Order used in the Western District of Missouri provides: “Unless otherwise ordered by the court, any financial penalty imposed by this order shall be due and payable during the period of incarceration, with any unpaid balance to be a condition of supervised release.” Violation of a condition of supervised release allows the court to revoke supervised release and impose further sanctions, including an additional term in prison. See
Finally, we reject Hines‘s contention that the fine imposed violates the Eighth Amendment command that “[e]xcessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed . . . .” There are few cases interpreting the Excessive Fines Clause. Supreme Court decisions suggest that the determination of excessiveness should be based, at least in part, on whether the fine is disproportionate to the crime. See Alexander v. United States, 113 S. Ct. 2766, 2775
The above cases involved forfeitures, not monetary fines. Proportionality is likely to be the most important issue in a forfeiture case, since the claimant-defendant is able to pay by forfeiting the disputed asset. In imposing a fine, on the other hand, ability to pay becomes a critical factor. But the Guidelines mandate that this factor be considered, see
The judgment of the district court is reversed and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
A true copy.
Attest:
CLERK, U. S. COURT OF APPEALS, EIGHTH CIRCUIT.