Lead Opinion
OPINION
Thе Government appeals from district court orders reducing fines assessed against Rosselli and Friedman. The Government also petitions this court for a writ of mandamus ordering the district court to vacate its orders. We grant the writ.
Statement of Facts
Friedman and Rosselli were tried together in the Central District of California and convicted on Dеcember 2, 1968 on several counts for violating 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 1952, 2314.
On June 28, 1971 Rosselli filed in the district court a motion for reduction of sentence. On October 18, 1971 the district court ordered a reduction in the term, denied for the time being the request to reduce the fine, but specifically stated it was retaining jurisdiction over the matter of the fine. Several months later, Rosselli moved for a reduction of the fine, but the court on March 6, 1973 merely vacated the “stand committed” order. A year later, Rosselli again moved the court to reduce the fine, and on March 25, 1974 the court reduced the fine to $10,000.
Friedman originally moved for a reduction of sentence on February 23, 1971, 62 days after the district court received this court’s mandate affirming his conviction. On May 3, 1972, the court reduced Friedman’s sentence to time served. Almost two years later, on February 4, 1974, Friedman filed a motion to clarify the order reducing sentence or, in the alternative, to reduce sentence. The district court on March 25, 1974 reduced the fine to $75,000 and then, in a modifying order on April 18, 1974, further reduced the fine by $25,000.
Uncertain whether the proper procedure to obtain review in this court of the sentence reduction orders was by appeal or by petition for a writ of mandamus, the Government pursued both methods. On April 24, 1974 the Government appealed directly from the March 25 orders, and on May 8, 1974 filed a petition for writ of mandamus to vacate the district court orders of March 25 and April 18, 1974. The appeals and the petition have been consolidated for disposition by this court. However, since we conclude that a writ should issue in this case, we need not consider the direct appeal nor decide whether an order to reduce sentence under F.R.Crim.P. 35 is appealable by the Government. United States v. Mehrtens,
Petition for Writ of Mandamus
Friedman and Rosselli, the real parties in interest in the action for the writ, contend that this court should in the exercise of discretion deny the petition without ever reaching the merits. Although it is well established that granting of a writ of mandamus is an extraordinary remedy and lies in the sound discretion of the court [United States v. Lane,
Rule 35
F.R.Crim.P. 35 provides in part:
The court may reduce a sentеnce within 120 days after the sentence is imposed, or within 120 days after receipt by the court of a mandate issued upon affirmance of the judgment or dismissal of the appeal, or within 120 days after entry of any order or judgment of the Supreme Court denying review of, or having the effect of upholding, a judgment of convictiоn.
Because F.R.Crim.P. 45(b) states that the court may not enlarge the period for taking action under Rule 35, the 120 day requirement in Rule 35 is a mandatory one. Thus, unless the 120 day requirement is met, the court has no jurisdiction or power to alter sentence. United States v. Regan,
Rosselli’s Case
The Government’contends that the 120 day period for Rosselli began to run on February 22, 1971, the day the Supreme Court denied Rosselli’s petition for certiorari. Since Rosselli’s original motion to reduce sentence was not filed until June 28, 1971 — 125 days after the Supreme Court action — the Government argues that the district court was without power later to reduce sentence on March 25, 1974.
Thе validity of this argument depends on an interpretation of Rule 35, specifically the phrase: “ . . . within 120 days after entry of any order or judgment of the Supreme Court denying review of, or having the effect of upholding, a judgment of conviction.” (emphasis added) Rosselli contends that “entry” does not refer to entry on the Supreme Court doсket sheet, but to entry or filing at the court of appeals or at the district court. If Rosselli’s contention is correct, his motion was timely since notice of denial of the petition for certiorari was not filed in this court until March 3, 1971 and still has not been filed at the district court.
Before the 1966 amendments to Rule 35, the Rule read in part: “The court may reduce a sentence . within 60 days after receipt of an order of the Supreme Court denying an application for a writ of certiorari.” (emphasis added) The Advisory Committee Note to Amended Rule 35 states the reason for the change:
If the writ were denied, the last phrase of the rule left obscure the point at which the period began to run because orders of the Supreme Court denying applications for writs are not sent to the district courts. See Johnson v. United States,235 F.2d 459 (5th Cir. 1956).... The amendment makes it clear that . . . the 120-day period commences to run with the entry of the order or judgment of the Supreme Court.
Thus, the history оf the rule and the Advisory Committee Note are consistent with the plain meaning of the amended rule that the 120 day period begins to run the day of the Supreme Court order and entry on its own docket sheet. See Peterson v. United States,
Friedman’s Case
It is undisputed that Friedman’s original motion to reduce sentence, filed on February 23, 1971, was filed well within the 120 day period. Acting on the motion, the district court on May 3, 1972 ordered reduction of the prison term to time served.
Friedman’s contention that the court had power to modify sentence in 1974 is based solely on Leyvas v. United States,
The extension of Leyvas to amended Rule 35 cases, however, does not bolster Friedman’s position because the decision is wholly inapplicable to the present case. In Leyvas, only one motion to reduce sentence was filed and the hearing on that motion was held just eight days after expiration of the 60 day period. On the same day of the hearing the court orally modified sentence, and 11 days later — merely nineteen days beyond the 60 day period — the court entered its formal order.
In distinct contrast, the challenged court order here was entered more than three years after expiration of the original 120 day period and was made pursuant to a second motion to reduce sentence, a motion totally new and separate from the original one which had been filed and acted upon several years earlier.
Even if the second motion was, as Friedman contends, merely one for clarification of the first order or even if the district court on May 3, 1972 purported to “retain jurisdiction” over the sentence, the court’s action on March 25 and April 18, 1974 cannot be upheld. To rule otherwise would all but nullify the 120 day time limit and would undermine completely the purpose of Rule 35 which was enacted, in part, to limit the period over which the district court has discretionary control over its own sentences.
Petition for writ of mandamus granted.
Notes
. Rosselli was also convicted on one count for violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7206(1).
. Rosselli contends that the Government’s failure to raise jurisdictional defects at the pre-March 25, 1974 hearings on sentence reduction precludes it from raising thаt issue here. This argument is without merit. See Mansfield, Coldwater & Lake Michigan Ry. Co. v. Swan,
. The court order of October 18, 1971, reducing the prison sentence to time served, and order of March 6, 1973, vacating the “stand committed” order, are not challenged on appeal nor are subjects of the writ petition. Therefore, our decision with respect to the validity of the March 25, 1974 order in no way affects the validity of the earlier orders.
. This court order is not challenged by the Government and is not before us on appeal or on the petition for writ of mandamus.
. The contention that the second motion was merely one for clarification of the first order modifying sentence аnd that the district judge on May 3, 1972 intended to “retain jurisdiction” over the sentence is without support in the record.
. As Professor Moore has noted, “Some limitation on the court’s power seems to be necessary, for after a lapse of time the peculiar ability of the court to determine sentence gives wаy to the presumably greater competence, and knowledge, of penal authorities.” 8A J. Moore, Federal Practice 11 35.02 [1] at 35-4 n. 5 (2d ed. 1974); cf. United States v. Smith,
Dissenting Opinion
(dissenting):
I dissent. I would deny mandamus relief because this is an ordinary case, while mandamus is an extraordinary remedy (United States v. Lane,
The effect of the majority opinion is that Rosselli’s original motion to reduce, having been filed June 28, 1971, or 128 days after the Supreme Court acted, was beyond the power of the Distriсt Court to grant. For reasons known best to the Prosecutor, no challenge was posed to the Court’s action of October 18, 1971, reducing the term of Rosselli’s confinement. Rosselli on January 12, 1973, filed a further motion for reduction or modification of the fine. In response, the Court on March 6, 1973, vacated the “stand committed” order.
I had always thought that sparing use of the extraordinary writs such as mam damus was a sound principle of judicial administration. If lawyers know they cannot run the mandamus track to the Court of Appeals in routine cases, then the time and talent of the Court of Appeals will be expended on cases in which appeal is a matter ,of right, or on those rаre situations in which an extraordinary writ is absolutely necessary to prevent a grave injustice or to avoid some severe and pervasive procedural chaos. The serious backlog in the civil docket in this Court provides added reason why the extraordinary writs should be used sparingly and not passed out in prоfligate fashion.
The effect of this case will be that U. S. Attorneys, the Bureau of Prisons, or even the Board of Parole will be encouraged to pepper this Court with petitions for mandamus whenever the mood strikes and the District Judge acts after the 120 days have passed. I say this because of the language in the majority opinion which suggests that if the District Judge does not act “with reasonable speed after the timely motion is filed,” he will lose jurisdiction. I know from my own experience (and from the experience of other District Judges) that even when the motion is filed within 120 days, often a considerable amount of time elapses beforе the Judge can act. Many District Judges do as I myself do when a Rule 35 motion is received: I ask the Bureau of Prisons for a report on the status, conditions and progress of the Defendant in the institution in which he is confined. It usually takes at least 60 or 90 days for a significant report to be prepared by the Bureau of Prisons. From time to time, the report itself suggests the necessity for exploration and further study of particular aspects of the case. In such an event, a request to the Bureau of Prisons may well result in a further delay of one or two months. Hence, the majority result produces a situation in which, at the whim of some lower level emрloyee in the Board of Parole or Bureau of Prisons, or perhaps in the Justice Department or Prosecutor’s Office, a mandamus challenge will be flung to the action of the District Courts, thereby adding to this Court’s already serious stack of unfinished civil business.
I would do here as this Court did in Carter, supra. There the District Judge placed two 18-year-old boys and a 19-year-old girl on probation, even though the existent provisions of the 1956 Nar
As the majority notes in its opinion, the Government “double shot”', in this case by filing notice of appeal as well as seeking to invoke our mandamus jurisdiction. If my view on mandamus were to have prevailed, then it would be necessary for us to determine whether an appeal would lie under the provisions of the statute governing an appeal by the Government. 18 U.S.C. § 3731. However, since my view as to the mandamus has not prevailed, it seems unnecessary for me to discuss the question of whеther the order is appealable.
. Even though the Court specifically stated it was “retaining jurisdiction” over the matter of the fine, in light of Rule 35 as construed by the majority, such a statement was unavailing.
. While the dates differ somewhat as to Defendant Friedman, the considerations in his case call for no different result, whether my view or that of the majority prevails. I omit the details for brevity’s sake.