United States v. Florence Brook

Filing

PER CURIAM OPINION FILED - THE COURT: Roger L. Wollman, Diana E. Murphy and Lavenski R. Smith (UNPUBLISHED); [4095392-2] Granting motion to withdraw as counsel filed by Mr. Stuart P. Huffman, subject to counsel informing appellant about procedures for seeking rehearing or filing a petition for certiorari. [4127730] [13-3081]

United States Court of Appeals
For the Eighth Circuit
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No. 13-3081
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United States of America
lllllllllllllllllllll Plaintiff - Appellee
v.
Florence C. Brooks
lllllllllllllllllllll Defendant - Appellant
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Appeal from United States District Court
for the Western District of Missouri - Springfield
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Submitted: February 13, 2014
Filed: February 27, 2014
[Unpublished]
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Before WOLLMAN, MURPHY, and SMITH, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM.
Florence Brooks appeals the sentence imposed by the district court1 after she
pleaded guilty to a felon-in-possession offense. On appeal, Brooks’s counsel seeks
1

The Honorable Greg Kays, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the
Western District of Missouri.

Appellate Case: 13-3081

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Date Filed: 02/27/2014 Entry ID: 4127730

to withdraw, and has filed a brief under Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967),
arguing that the court abused its discretion in varying upward from the Guidelines
calculation, and in denying the government’s substantial-assistance motion.
Upon careful review, we conclude that the court committed neither procedural
nor substantive error at sentencing, because the Guidelines calculation was correct
and the court made an individualized assessment of the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors,
specifically taking into account Brooks’s cooperation. See United States v. Mangum,
625 F.3d 466, 470 (8th Cir. 2010) (upward variance is reasonable where court makes
individualized assessment of § 3553(a) factors); United States v. Feemster, 572 F.3d
455, 461 (8th Cir. 2009) (en banc) (appellate review of sentencing decision). Having
independently reviewed the record in accordance with Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75,
80 (1988), we find no nonfrivolous issues. Therefore, we grant counsel’s motion to
withdraw, subject to counsel informing appellant about procedures for seeking
rehearing or filing a petition for certiorari. The judgment is affirmed.
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Appellate Case: 13-3081

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Date Filed: 02/27/2014 Entry ID: 4127730