Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals - Published Opinions

Friday, January 24, 2014

Aguilar-Ibarra: Untimely objection to PSR

In U.S. v. Aguilar-Ibarra, No. 13-10307 (Jan. 22, 2014), the Court affirmed a district court’s determination that a defendant’s objection to the Probation Office’s Presentence Investigation Report was untimely, because it was not filed within the 14-day deadline of Fed. R. Crim. P. 32(f)(1). The Court rejected the argument that the deadline was inapplicable because the parties had agreed to that an enhancement (for bodily injury) should not apply, pointing out that the deadline exists to ensure that the district court can meaningfully exercise its sentencing authority. Reviewing the issue for “plain error” as a result of the waiver, the Court rejected the argument that an enhancement for “bodily injury” under U.S.S.G. § 2B3.1 should not have applied, because of a lack of evidence. The Court noted that the district court was authorized to rely on unobjected-to factual statements in the PSR. Here, the PSR stated that the victim sustained injuries.