US v. Antonio Taste

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 1:07-cr-00280-WO-1 Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [999539650].. [14-4649]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 14-4649

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
v.
ANTONIO TASTE,
Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle
District of North Carolina, at Greensboro.
William L. Osteen,
Jr., Chief District Judge. (1:07-cr-00280-WO-1)

Submitted:

January 29, 2015

Decided:

March 4, 2015

Before NIEMEYER, FLOYD, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Steven A. Feldman, FELDMAN and FELDMAN, Uniondale, New York, for
Appellant.
Ripley Rand, United States Attorney, Michael F.
Joseph, Assistant United States Attorney, Greensboro, North
Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Antonio Taste pled guilty to possession of a firearm
by

a

convicted

sentenced

to

felon,

180

18

months’

U.S.C.

§ 922(g)(1)

imprisonment,

the

(2012),
mandatory

and

was

minimum

penalty under the Armed Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”), 18 U.S.C.
§ 924(e) (2012).

On appeal, counsel submitted a brief pursuant

to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), stating that there
were no meritorious issues for appeal, but suggesting that this
court consider whether the district court erred in designating
Taste an armed career criminal.

Applying United States v. Harp,

406 F.3d 242, 246 (4th Cir. 2005), this court rejected counsel’s
argument and affirmed the judgment.

United States v. Taste, 303

F. App’x 149 (4th Cir. 2008) (No. 08-4388).
In July 2012, Taste filed a 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (2012)
motion,

arguing

entering

that

convictions

his

four

North

could

no

longer

Carolina
be

breaking

considered

and

violent

felonies for purposes of the ACCA in light of our decision in
United

States

banc).

The

v.

Simmons,

Government

649

F.3d

responded

237

that,

(4th
while

Cir.

2011)

Taste

may

(en
be

entitled to resentencing, he had numerous other violent felonies
and/or

serious

drug

offenses

that

would

still

render

him

an

armed career criminal subject to a mandatory minimum 180-month
sentence.

Although the Government posited that the enhanced

ACCA sentence was still appropriate, relying in part on Taste’s
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three Massachusetts “larceny from the person” convictions, it
agreed to resentencing in light of Simmons. 1

Accordingly, the

district court, accepting the magistrate judge’s recommendation,
granted the § 2255 motion as to Taste’s Simmons claim, vacated
the judgment, and ordered resentencing.
At
concluded

resentencing

that

Taste’s

in

July

prior

2014,

the

Massachusetts

district

court

convictions

for

larceny from the person were violent felonies for purposes of
the ACCA, and again applied the enhanced sentence of 180 months’
imprisonment.

The district court imposed the same conditions of

supervised release as it did at the first sentencing, including
the following special condition:
The defendant shall submit to substance abuse testing,
at any time, as directed by the probation officer.
The defendant shall cooperatively participate in a
substance abuse treatment program, which may include
drug
testing
and
inpatient
or
residential
treatment. . . .
On

appeal,

Taste

first

alleges

that

the

district

court’s special condition that he “submit to substance abuse
testing

at

any

time

as

directed

by

the

probation

officer”

constitutes an improper delegation of judicial function to the
probation officer.

Specifically, he maintains that the district

1

As part of this concession, the Government further
affirmatively waived any statute of limitations defense that
might otherwise apply.

3

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court erred in authorizing the probation department to conduct
substance

abuse

testing

at

any

time

during

his

term

of

supervision, without issuing a schedule or setting a limitation
on the number of tests per year.

Taste concedes that this claim

is reviewed for plain error because he did not object below. 2
To establish plain error, Taste must demonstrate that
the district court erred, the error was plain, and the error
affected his substantial rights.
133 S. Ct. 1121, 1126 (2013).

Henderson v. United States,
If these requirements are met,

the court will exercise its discretion to correct the error only
if

it

“seriously

affects

the

fairness,

reputation of judicial proceedings.”

integrity

or

public

Id. at 1126-27 (internal

quotation marks and alterations omitted).
We conclude that the district court did not err in
imposing the special condition.

See United States v. Carpenter,

702 F.3d 882, 884-885 (6th Cir. 2012) (holding that when “the
2

The Government argues that Taste’s challenge to the
special condition, which was also imposed in the original
judgment, is barred because he could have raised it in his
initial appeal but failed to do so. Under the circumstances of
this case, where a resentencing hearing was held, we conclude
otherwise.
See 28 U.S.C. § 2255(b) (2012) (“[T]he court shall
vacate and set the judgment aside and shall discharge the
prisoner or resentence him or grant a new trial or correct the
sentence as may appear appropriate.”); see also United States v.
Haynes, 764 F.3d 1304, 1310 (11th Cir. 2014) (“[A] resentencing
court
has
the
discretion
to
limit
resentencing
to
the
‘appropriate’ relief granted in the order to vacate, set aside,
or correct the prisoner’s sentence.”).

4

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district court imposed drug testing in connection with a special
condition of substance abuse program participation . . . [it]
was . . . not required to specify the number of drug tests [a
defendant] must undergo as a part of the treatment program.”).
Even

assuming

error,

any

improper

Taste’s substantial rights.
458

F.3d

994,

996

delegation

did

not

affect

See United States v. Maciel-Vaquez,

(9th

Cir.

2006)

(holding

any

improper

delegation did not rise to level of plain error); United States
v.

Padilla,

415

F.3d

211,

219-20

(1st

Cir.

2005)

(holding

district court’s erroneous delegation of authority to probation
officer

to

administered

determine
was

not

maximum

number

structural

error

of

drug

and

tests

therefore

to

be

did

not

erred

in

constitute plain error).
Next,

Taste

argues

the

district

court

designating him an armed career criminal based in part on his
Massachusetts

convictions

for

larceny

from

the

person.

We

review de novo a district court’s determination of whether prior
offenses qualify as violent felonies for purposes of the ACCA.
United States v. Hemingway, 734 F.3d 323, 331 (4th Cir. 2013).
In considering whether the district court properly designated
Taste an armed career criminal, we review the sentencing court’s
legal conclusions de novo and its factual findings for clear
error.

United States v. McDowell, 745 F.3d 115, 120 (4th Cir.

5

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2014), cert. denied, ___ S. Ct. ___, 2015 WL 132957 (Jan. 12,
2015).
A

defendant

is

an

armed

career

criminal

when

he

violates 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) and has three prior convictions
for

violent

felonies

§ 924(e)(1).

or

Because

serious

a

drug

Massachusetts

offenses.
conviction

18
for

U.S.C.
larceny

from the person constitutes a violent felony for purposes of the
ACCA, we reject this argument.
659

F.3d

117,

conviction

118-20

for

(1st

larceny

See United States v. Rodriguez,

Cir.

from

2011)

the

(holding

person

Massachusetts

constitutes

violent

felony under the residual clause of the ACCA); United States v.
DeJesus,

984

F.2d

21,

25

(1st

Cir.

1993)

(larceny

from

the

person as defined under Massachusetts law constitutes a crime of
violence); see also United States v. Jarmon, 596 F.3d 228, 230–
33 (4th Cir. 2010) (holding that North Carolina crime of larceny
from

the

person

was

a

crime

of

violence

under

the

residual

clause of the career offender guideline).
Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s judgment.
We

dispense

contentions

with
are

oral

argument

adequately

because

presented

in

the

facts

and

the

materials

legal
before

this court and argument would not aid the decisional process.

AFFIRMED

6