From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

Hawley v. U.S.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
Apr 25, 1990
898 F.2d 1513 (11th Cir. 1990)

Summary

holding that absent federal involvement in the state's plea bargain, federal courts are not bound by the state court's intentions and are free to use their own discretion in applying federal law to determine the conditions of the prisoner's federal sentence

Summary of this case from Rhodes v. Mansukhani

Opinion

No. 88-5392. Non-Argument Calendar.

April 25, 1990.

Robert Bruce Hawley, Talladega, Ala., pro se.

Dexter W. Lehtinen, U.S. Atty., Arthur Lee Bentley III, and Linda Collins Hertz, Asst. U.S. Attys., Miami, Fla., for respondent-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Before ANDERSON and CLARK, Circuit Judges, and RONEY, Senior Circuit Judge.


Appellant, Robert Bruce Hawley, was charged in December 1984 with three offenses involving a conspiracy to transport and actually transporting stolen diamond rings worth over $5,000, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371, 2314. Pursuant to a plea agreement, Hawley pled guilty to one count of transporting a stolen diamond ring. The district court sentenced Hawley to eight years, expressly providing that the sentence be served consecutively to a five year sentence Hawley was then serving pursuant to a conviction and sentence imposed by a Georgia court.

Hawley had previously been convicted and sentenced to a five year term by a Georgia court, which apparently intended that its sentence run concurrently with the sentence to be imposed for the instant federal offense.

Hawley argues on appeal that his consecutive federal sentence is unlawful because it denied the State of Georgia the right to impose a concurrent sentence. We reject Hawley's argument. Because of the division of powers between the federal government and the states under the dual sovereignty principle of our form of government, a defendant may not, by agreement with state authorities, compel the federal government to impose a sentence that is concurrent with an existing state sentence. United States v. Sackinger, 704 F.2d 29, 32 (2d Cir. 1983) ("under the dual sovereignty principle, Sackinger could not, by agreement with state authorities, compel the federal government to grant a concurrent sentence"). See also United States v. Eastman, 758 F.2d 1315 (9th Cir. 1985) (federal court cannot, by attempting to impose a federal sentence to run consecutively to a state sentence which was yet to be imposed, preempt the right of a state court to apply its own sentencing laws). Therefore, the district court was not bound by the state court's intentions and was free to use its own discretion in applying federal law to determine the conditions of the appellant's federal sentence.

Appellant's other arguments on appeal are without merit and warrant no discussion. The judgment of the district court is therefore AFFIRMED.


Summaries of

Hawley v. U.S.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
Apr 25, 1990
898 F.2d 1513 (11th Cir. 1990)

holding that absent federal involvement in the state's plea bargain, federal courts are not bound by the state court's intentions and are free to use their own discretion in applying federal law to determine the conditions of the prisoner's federal sentence

Summary of this case from Rhodes v. Mansukhani

holding that absent federal involvement in the state's plea bargain, federal courts are not bound by the state court's intentions and are free to use their own discretion in applying federal law to determine the conditions of the prisoner's federal sentence

Summary of this case from Stokes v. Warden

holding that absent federal involvement in the state's plea bargain, federal courts are not bound by the state court's intentions and are free to use their own discretion in applying federal law to determine the conditions of the prisoner's federal sentence

Summary of this case from Ka v. Warden of FCI Bennettsville

finding that in the absence of federal involvement in a state plea bargain, federal courts are "not bound by the state court's intentions and [are] free to use [their] own discretion in applying federal law to determine the conditions of the [defendant's] federal sentence"

Summary of this case from Bradin v. Thomas

finding that in the absence of federal involvement in a state plea bargain, federal courts are "not bound by the state court's intentions and [are] free to use [their] own discretion in applying federal law to determine the conditions of the [defendant's] federal sentence"

Summary of this case from Bradin v. Reilly

In Hawley, the federal court gave the defendant an eight-year sentence to be served consecutively to a five-year state sentence that the defendant was then serving.

Summary of this case from U.S. v. Ballard

In Hawley v. United States, 898 F.2d 1513, 1514 (11th Cir. 1990), this court cited and followed Sackinger (relied upon above), and held that absent federal involvement in the state plea bargain, federal courts are "not bound by the state court's intentions and [are] free to use [their] own discretion in applying federal law to determine the conditions of the appellant's federal sentence."

Summary of this case from Meagher v. Clark

In Hawley v. United States, 898 F.2d 1513 (11th Cir. 1990), the district court sentenced the defendant to a prison term to be served consecutively to a sentence that he was then serving pursuant to a conviction in a Georgia court.

Summary of this case from Meagher v. Dugger
Case details for

Hawley v. U.S.

Case Details

Full title:ROBERT BRUCE HAWLEY, PETITIONER-APPELLANT, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA…

Court:United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit

Date published: Apr 25, 1990

Citations

898 F.2d 1513 (11th Cir. 1990)

Citing Cases

Whisnant v. United States

Similar to the case here, in Hawley, the petitioner was sentenced by a state court that intended its sentence…

U.S. v. Smith

The federal and state governments are separate sovereigns, and, under the dual sovereignty principle, the…