United States v. Tien Nguyen
Docket: No. 08-10083
Court: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; May 13, 2009; Federal Appellate Court
The memorandum addresses the appeal of Tien Nguyen regarding his sentence for possession of stolen goods under 18 U.S.C. §§ 2315 and 2. The court reverses the district court's decision that Nguyen waived his right to object to his presentence report (PSR) and remands the case for reevaluation of his sentence, particularly considering his 2003 California misdemeanor conviction. Although Nguyen waived his right to appeal his sentence in a plea agreement, the government did not contest this waiver in its briefs, leading the court to conclude that the government implicitly waived any argument related to the appeal waiver. Nguyen demonstrated good cause for his late objection to the PSR during the sentencing hearing, which was conducted 18 days after he received the PSR. The district court's refusal to allow this objection was found to be an abuse of discretion. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32 mandates that objections to the PSR be made within 14 days; however, Nguyen's late objection was justified as the PSR did not provide details about the circumstances of his misdemeanor conviction. The lack of additional information, which was implied to be forthcoming by the Probation Officer, led Nguyen to reasonably wait before objecting. The district court relied on the misdemeanor conviction without corroborating information, despite Nguyen's objection that it should not be counted. Had the district court considered Nguyen's objection, he would have been categorized under criminal history category II instead of III, resulting in a potentially lower sentencing range. Nguyen was sentenced to 44 months, making the failure to consider his objection prejudicial. The decision is reversed and remanded for reconsideration. This memorandum is not designated for publication and does not serve as precedent except as outlined by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.