USA v. Charles Walker
Filing
Opinion issued by court as to Appellant Charles Tyrone Walker. Decision: Vacated and Remanded. Opinion type: Non-Published. Opinion method: Per Curiam. The opinion is also available through the Court's Opinions page at this link http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions.
Case: 16-11395
Date Filed: 10/02/2017
Page: 1 of 3
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
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No. 16-11395
Non-Argument Calendar
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D.C. Docket No. 1:94-cr-00096-CC-ECS-7
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
CHARLES TYRONE WALKER,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Georgia
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(October 2, 2017)
Before MARCUS, FAY, and EDMONDSON, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
Charles Tyrone Walker (now with counsel) appeals the denial of his pro se
Case: 16-11395
Date Filed: 10/02/2017
Page: 2 of 3
motion -- filed pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3613(b) -- to terminate the fine imposed as
part of his sentence. Reversible error has been shown; we vacate the district
court’s order and remand for further proceedings.
In July 1995, a jury found Walker guilty of conspiracy to sell, distribute, or
dispense narcotics, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846. On 1 November 1995, Walker
was sentenced to 297 months’ imprisonment and 8 years’ supervised release; in
addition, he was ordered to pay a $25,000 fine and a $100 special assessment.
Walker’s term of imprisonment was later reduced to 240 months, pursuant to 18
U.S.C. § 582(c)(2). Walker was released from prison on 2 November 2015.
Walker moved the district court to terminate his fine, pursuant to 18 U.S.C.
§ 3613(b). In particular, Walker argued that -- for criminal defendants convicted
before 24 April 1996 -- the obligation to pay a fine terminates 20 years after
judgment was entered. Because more than 20 years had elapsed from the date of
his conviction, Walker contended he was no longer obligated to pay the $25,000
fine.
Under the Victim and Witness Protection Act (“VWPA”) -- which was in
effect at the time of Walker’s 1995 conviction and sentencing -- a fine imposed as
part of sentencing expired “(1) twenty years after the entry of the judgment; or (2)
upon the death of the individual fined.” 18 U.S.C. § 3613(b) (1994). The VWPA
was then amended by the Mandatory Victim Restitution Act of 1996 (“MVRA”).
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Case: 16-11395
Date Filed: 10/02/2017
Page: 3 of 3
Among other things, the MVRA provided that a defendant’s “liability to pay a fine
shall terminate the later of 20 years from the entry of judgment or 20 years after
the release from imprisonment of the person fined, or upon the death of the
individual fined.” 18 U.S.C. § 3613(b) (emphasis added).
The district court relied on the amended language of the MVRA to deny
Walker’s motion. Because 20 years had not yet elapsed from the time Walker was
released from prison, the district court determined that Walker was unentitled to
relief under section 3613(b). The MVRA provides expressly, however, that
amendments made pursuant to the Act are “effective for sentencing proceedings in
cases in which the defendant is convicted on or after the date of enactment of this
Act.” Pub. L. No. 104-132, § 211, 110 Stat. 1214 (1996). The MVRA was enacted
on 24 April 1996. See generally Pub. L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214 (1996).
Given Congress’s stated intent that the MVRA apply only to defendants
convicted on or after 24 April 1996, the district court erred in applying
retroactively a provision of the MVRA to Walker’s 1995 sentence. We vacate the
district court’s order and remand the case for reconsideration of Walker’s motion
to terminate based on the law in effect when Walker was sentenced.
VACATED AND REMANDED.
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