904 F. 2d 41 - United States v. Colwell
904 F2d 41 United States v. Colwell
904 F.2d 41
Unpublished Disposition
NOTICE: Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3 provides that dispositions other than opinions or orders designated for publication are not precedential and should not be cited except when relevant under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel.
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
William Boyd COLWELL, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 89-15655.
United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.
Submitted May 24, 1990.*
Decided May 29, 1990.
Before SCHROEDER, REINHARDT and DAVID R. THOMPSON, Circuit Judges.
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MEMORANDUM**
William Boyd Colwell, a federal prisoner, appeals pro se the district court's order partially denying his 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2255 motion to vacate his sentence. Colwell contends that the district court erred in imposing a special parole term instead of a supervised release term. We reverse and remand for resentencing.
In March 1987, Colwell was convicted of importing 206 pounds of marijuana, in violation of 21 U.S.C. Secs. 952(a), 960(a)(1) and 960(b)(3) (Count I), and possession of the marijuana with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. Secs. 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(C) (Count II). Colwell committed these offenses in December 1986. In May 1987, the district court sentenced Colwell to concurrent three-year terms of imprisonment on Counts I and II, and imposed a three-year term of supervised release on Count I.
In ruling on Colwell's section 2255 motion, the district court amended his sentence to include a three-year term of special parole on Count I, pursuant to this court's decision in United States v. Torres, 865 F.2d 1120 (9th Cir.1989). As the government concedes, the district court's ruling has been rendered erroneous by this court's amended decision in United States v. Torres, 880 F.2d 113, 115 (9th Cir.1989).
Pursuant to the amended decision in Torres, Colwell's sentence should have included a term of supervised release of at least three years on Count II. See 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(b)(1)(C); Torres, 880 F.2d at 115 (Section 1002 of Pub.L. 99-570, amending 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(b)(1) and providing for mandatory supervised release term, did not carry an express provision for its effective date and therefore took effect on the date of its enactment, October 27, 1986).
Similarly, section 1302 of Pub.L. 99-570, 100 Stat. 3207-15-3207-18 (1986), amending 21 U.S.C. Sec. 960(b) and providing for a mandatory term of supervised release, does not carry an express provision for its effective date. Therefore, under general principles of statutory construction, section 1302 took effect on the date of its enactment, October 27, 1986. See Torres, 880 F.2d at 115 (citing United States v. Meyers, 847 F.2d 1408, 1415 (9th Cir.1988)).
Thus, because sections 1002 and 1302 were in effect when Colwell was sentenced, he should have been sentenced to terms of supervised release of at least three years on both Count I and Count II. We therefore reverse and remand for resentencing.
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REVERSED AND REMANDED.