US v. Mark Murphy

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 5:11-cr-00086-FL-1 Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [998910792].. [12-4051]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 12-4051

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
MARK MURPHY,
Murphy, Jr.,

a/k/a

Carlos

Sentrell

Murphy,

a/k/a

Mark

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of North Carolina, at Raleigh.
Louise W. Flanagan,
District Judge. (5:11-cr-00086-FL-1)

Submitted:

July 26, 2012

Decided:

August 7, 2012

Before WYNN, FLOYD, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Thomas P. McNamara, Federal Public Defender, Stephen C. Gordon,
Assistant Federal Public Defender, Raleigh, North Carolina, for
Appellant.
Thomas G. Walker, United States Attorney, Jennifer
P. May-Parker, Kristine L. Fritz, Assistant United States
Attorney, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Mark Murphy pled guilty to being a felon in possession
of a firearm under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) (2006) (Count 1) and
knowingly possessing a stolen firearm under 18 U.S.C. § 922(j)
(2006) (Count 2).

Murphy’s advisory Sentencing Guidelines range

was 92-115 months of imprisonment and he was sentenced to 115
months.

On

appeal,

Murphy

argues

that

the

district

court

committed procedural error in determining his sentence because
it did not adequately address counsel’s argument that a lower
sentence was appropriate because of his close family ties.

For

the reasons that follow, we affirm.
We

review

a

sentence

deferential

abuse-of-discretion

States,

U.S.

552

38,

49

for

reasonableness

standard.

(2007).

In

Gall

applying
v.

determining

a

United

whether

a

district court committed any significant procedural error, we
look

to

any

calculation)

failure
of

the

in

the

calculation

Guidelines

range,

the

(or

the

improper

treatment

of

the

Guidelines as mandatory, the failure to consider 18 U.S.C. §
3553(a)

(2006)

factors,

the

selection

of

a

sentence

using

clearly erroneous facts, and any failure to adequately explain
the chosen sentence, including any deviation from the advisory
Guidelines range.

Gall, 552 U.S. at 51.

Although an individualized explanation must accompany
every sentence, United States v. Lynn, 592 F.3d 572, 576 (4th
2

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Cir. 2010); United States v. Carter, 564 F.3d 325, 330 (4th Cir.
2009),

a

sentencing

comprehensive
explanation

and
must

court

need

detailed

not

opinion,

nonetheless

be

necessarily
although

sufficient

to

issue

the

a

court’s

satisfy

the

appellate court that the district court considered the parties’
arguments and has a reasoned basis for exercising its own legal
decisionmaking authority.

United States v. Boulware, 604 F.3d

832, 837 (4th Cir. 2010).
apply
will

the
not

advisory

When the judge decides simply to

Sentencing

necessarily

require

Guidelines,
lengthy

however,

“doing

so

explanation.”

Rita

v.

United States, 551 U.S. 338, 356-57 (2007).

Moreover, if a

sentence is within the appropriate Guidelines range, we apply a
presumption on appeal that the sentence is reasonable.

United

States v. Abu Ali, 528 F.3d 210, 261 (4th Cir. 2008); United
States v. Allen, 491 F.3d 178, 193 (4th Cir. 2007); see Rita,
551 U.S. at 347.
Here, the district court noted it was not imposing a
fine

because

Murphy

had

dependents,

his

two

daughters.

Moreover, the court discussed the Bureau of Prisons’ practice of
trying to incarcerate prisoners near their families.

Thus, we

find evidence that the court considered Murphy’s close family
ties argument.

Moreover, the court expressly considered the

§ 3553(a) factors, listened to the arguments of counsel and to
Murphy

himself,

and

imposed

a
3

sentence

within

a

properly

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calculated

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advisory

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Guidelines

range.

Under

these

circumstances, we find that Murphy has provided no grounds to
overcome the appellate presumption of correctness of his withinGuidelines range sentence.
Accordingly, we affirm Murphy’s sentence.

We dispense

with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are
adequately

presented

in

the

materials

before

the

court

and

argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED

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