UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE,
v.
TRACY L. KIRBY, DEFENDANT-APPELLANT

6th Cir. | 1990-01-16
No. 88-5869
Before RYAN and NORRIS, Circuit Judges, and TURNER, District Judge.
893 F.2d 867 United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (1990) Positive Treatment
Cited by 8 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.


Holding

A prior juvenile adjudication for offenses committed before age eighteen can be considered in determining a defendant's criminal history category under the federal sentencing guidelines.


Facts & Procedural History

Defendant pleaded guilty to breaking into a post office. The sentencing judge considered his prior adjudication of delinquency in Kentucky for offense…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

[*868] PER CURIAM.

The question raised by this appeal is whether the fact that defendant had been adjudicated delinquent as a minor under Kentucky law and committed to a state agency charged with the custody of delinquent juveniles could be considered in determining his criminal history category under the federal sentencing guidelines.

Defendant entered a plea of guilty to a charge of breaking into a post office, brought under 18 U.S.C. § 2115. The sentencing judge was advised that defendant, when seventeen years of age, had been adjudicated delinquent by a Kentucky juvenile court on the basis of conduct that would constitute burglary, theft, and other related crimes, and was committed to the custody of the Kentucky Cabinet for Human Resources until he attained the age of eighteen, a period of nearly seven months.

In addressing defendant’s criminal history under the sentencing guidelines, the court added two points for a “prior sentence of imprisonment” of at least sixty days, as directed by section 4Al.l(b), and another two points under section 4Al.l(e), since the federal offense was committed less than two years after defendant’s release from imprisonment on the sentence counted under section 4Al.l(b).

Citing guideline section 4A1.2(a)(1), which defines a “prior sentence” in the context of an “adjudication of guilt,” and section 4A1.-2(b)(1), which defines “sentence of imprisonment” as involving “incarceration,” defendant complains that, since under Kentucky law an adjudication of delinquency by a juvenile court cannot be deemed a conviction, his juvenile record cannot be recognized to enchance his sentence under the guidelines.

Federal law, not Kentucky law, controls sentencing disposition in the event of convictions for federal offenses. See Dickerson v. New Banner Institute Inc., 460 U.S. 103, 111-12, 103 S.Ct. 986, 991-92, 74 L.Ed.2d 845 (1983); Flippins v. United States, 808 F. 2d 16, 19 (6th Cir.1987).

Guideline section 4A1.2(d)(2)(A), in providing instructions for computing criminal history as it relates to offenses committed prior to age eighteen, specifically directs the addition of two points “under § 4Al.l(b) for each adult or juvenile sentenced to confinement of at least sixty days.” Furthermore, because the juvenile adjudication was properly counted under section 4Al.l(b), the two-point enhancement was proper under section 4Al.l(e), since that section is keyed to a sentence counted under section 4Al.l(b).

Accordingly, we are unable to agree with defendant’s contention that adoption of guideline sections 4A1.2(a)(1) and (b)(1) precludes a sentencing court from considering a defendant’s prior juvenile adjudication, as was permitted prior to adoption of the guidelines. See United States v. Tucker, 404 U.S. 443, 446, 92 S.Ct. 589, 591, 30 L.Ed.2d 592 (1972).

In all other respects, the order sentencing defendant is also affirmed.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw