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United States v. Heather Villa

Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 14-50587 · 2015-09-25 · Unpublished

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Heather VILLA, Defendant-Appellant

Area
other
Panel
Stephen R. Reinhardt (author), Marsha S. Berzon, Edward Leavy

Analysis

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Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS SEP 25 2015 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, No. 14-50587 Plaintiff - Appellee, D.C. No. 3:14-cr-02474-AJB v. MEMORANDUM* HEATHER VILLA, Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of California Anthony J. Battaglia, District Judge, Presiding Submitted September 21, 2015** Before: REINHARDT, LEAVY, and BERZON, Circuit Judges.

Heather Villa appeals from the district court’s judgment and challenges the 51-month sentence imposed following her guilty-plea conviction for importation of methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 952 and 960. We have * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). Villa’s motion for oral argument is denied. jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we vacate and remand for resentencing.

Villa contends that the district court erred by denying her request for a minor role reduction pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2(b). We review the district court’s interpretation of the Guidelines de novo and for clear error the factual determination that a defendant is not a minor participant. See United States v. Hurtado, 760 F.3d 1065, 1068 (9th Cir. 2014), cert. denied, 135 S. Ct. 1467 (2015).

The district court denied the reduction based on factors that have not been recognized by this court. See id. at 1069. Looking to the factors this court has recognized and the facts of this case, it appears that Villa may be entitled to the adjustment. See U.S.S.G. § 3B1.2 cmt. n.3(A), (C); Hurtado, 760 F.3d at 1069.

Accordingly, we vacate and remand for resentencing. Upon resentencing, the district court shall consider Villa’s request for a minor role reduction in light of the factors articulated in Hurtado.

VACATED and REMANDED for resentencing.

2 14-50587

Cites, in this corpus