U.S. v. Blake

89 F.Supp.2d 328

UNITED STATES of America v. Summer BLAKE, Defendant.

No. CR 98-979 JBW.

United States District Court, E.D. New York.

March 15, 2000.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Mildred M. Whelan, The Legal Aid Society, Brooklyn, NY, for plaintiff.

Loretta A. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Brooklyn, NY, by Thomas Firestone, Assistant United States Attorney, for defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

WEINSTEIN, Senior District Judge.

                                 TABLE OF CONTENTS
  I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................ 331
 II. FACTS ................................................................... 331
     A. Crime ................................................................ 331
     B. Guidelines ........................................................... 332
     C. Defendant's Background ............................................... 332
     D. Psychiatric Profile .................................................. 333
     E. Victim ............................................................... 334
     F. First Sentencing Hearing ............................................. 335
     G. Victim's Reaction .................................................... 336
     H. Post-Hearing Rehabilitation .......................................... 336
     I. Second Sentencing Hearing ............................................ 337
III. CAN THE COURT DEPART? ................................................... 338
     A. Diminished Capacity .................................................. 338
     B. Aberrant Act ......................................................... 339
     C. Extraordinary Family Circumstances ................................... 339
     D. Probabilities of Rehabilitation ...................................... 339
 IV. SHOULD THE COURT DEPART? ................................................ 340
     A. Rehabilitation ....................................................... 340
        1. What is Rehabilitation? ........................................... 341
        2. Growth of the Rehabilitative Model ................................ 341
           a. England ........................................................ 342
           b. New York ....................................................... 342
        3. Decline of the Rehabilitative Model ............................... 343
           a. Modern Prison Environment ...................................... 344
           b. Current Role of Rehabilitation in Federal Sentencing ........... 345
        4. Rehabilitation and Incarceration: Concluding Thoughts ............. 346
     B. Victim Impact ........................................................ 347

       1. Historical Uses of Victim Impact Considerations .................. 347
       2. Role of Victim Impact in the Current Federal Regime .............. 349
          a. Seriousness of Offense ........................................ 349
          b. Respect for Law ............................................... 350
             i. Societal Desires ........................................... 350
            ii. Victim Catharsis ........................................... 351
       3. Restitution ...................................................... 351
    C. Reconciliation and Forgiveness ...................................... 352
 V. CONCLUSION ............................................................. 352

I. INTRODUCTON

The defendant tried to rob a bank. In the course of her botched attempt she stabbed a teller causing severe permanent physical and psychological injury. Having pleaded guilty, she must now be sentenced.

Sentencing is a serious and difficult task raising such issues as the role of punishment as just dessert, deterrence, rehabilitation, and victims' rights. There is no dispute that the defendant committed a dreadful crime resulting in a debilitating injury to an innocent victim. At the same time, the bizarre facts of the crime, the background of the criminal, and her behavior and rehabilitation following her arrest suggest that this case should not be mechanically decided through rigid application of the federal Sentencing Guidelines.

Three real and vulnerable people are directly affected—the victim, the defendant, and the defendant's daughter. Indirectly involved are defendant's extended family and community, the persons who were present in the bank and terrorized by the crime, and the larger public interested in deterrence of future crimes and public safety. Departure from the Guidelines is required in order to take appropriate account of the needs of all those concerned.

II. FACTS

A. Crime

On June 22, 1998, Summer Blake, a diminutive, comely African-American woman, was 21 years old. She parked her car near a Chase Manhattan Bank in Brooklyn. Entering a nearby building, she walked to the third floor and changed her clothes in a stairwell where she left them. Her new outfit consisted of a pink wig, white sweatshirt, painted blue jeans, and work boots.

The would-be robber attempted to hide behind a garbage dumpster from where she appeared to be looking into the bank's window. Not surprisingly, she was observed by several witnesses. At one point, she ran up the handicapped entrance to the bank and then returned to the dumpster.

Shortly thereafter, she entered the bank and yelled, "This is a stickup." She was brandishing what appeared to be a gun and ordered everyone to the front of the bank. Sheron Nauzo, an assistant manager at Chase, was seated at her desk with a customer when Blake approached her with the gun-like object and a knife. After Ms. Nauzo assumed a position on the floor, the defendant ordered her to unlock the vault. When she fumbled for her keys, a co-worker unlocked the vault, entered it, and attempted to close the door behind her, leaving Ms. Nauzo and Blake on the other side.

At this point, Blake became agitated and struck at Ms. Nauzo with a knife. Ms. Nauzo was stabbed in the left hand as she attempted to ward off the blow, suffering permanent tendon and nerve damage.

The defendant proceeded behind the teller counter and yelled, "Where's the money?" She then grabbed several rolls of coins and ran from the bank. Witnesses observed her leaving the bank and running in the direction of the building where she had secreted her clothing. They also saw coins falling out of a bag she was carrying.

Members of the civilian Williamsburg Safety Patrol followed Blake to the building and kept it under surveillance until officers from the New York City Police Department arrived. She was located by police in the basement and arrested. When she was discovered, she had stripped down to her underwear. Her clothes and the knife were recovered under the stairwell. The police also recovered the "gun" she had used, which was a toy. No money was recovered from Blake, but $29.75 in coins was found in a lot adjacent to the building.

In a post-arrest statement, Blake admitted her role in the robbery. She stated that she committed it by herself and that no one was aware of her intentions.

Defendant was charged with the crimes of bank robbery (18 U.S.C. § 2113(a)) and assaulting a person or putting his or her life in jeopardy during the commission of the robbery (18 U.S.C. § 2113(d)). She pleaded guilty to both crimes.

B. Guidelines

Blake does not challenge the Sentencing Guidelines calculation of a total offense level of 29 and a criminal history category of I, calculated as follows: The base offense level for the robbery is 20. See U.S.S.G. § 2B3.1(b)(1). She received enhancements of two points because property of a financial institution was taken (§ 2B3.1(b)(1)), of four points because a dangerous weapon was used (§ 2B3.1(b)(2)(D)), and of six points because Ms. Nauzo suffered permanent bodily injury (§ 2B3.1(b)(3)(C)). Her offense level was reduced by three points because of her acceptance of responsibility (§ 3E1.1(a), (b)). These computations resulted in a total offense level of 29. Based upon a criminal history category of I (no prior offenses), the Guideline's sentencing range is no less than 87 months and no more than 108 months. She would receive credit of approximately one month for the period she was incarcerated awaiting release on bail and in custody for a psychiatric examination at a government institution.

C. Defendant's Background

In determining a sentence, it is worth attempting to understand (as best one can) what set a defendant upon her illegal course. While it does not excuse her conduct, Blake's difficult background and misplaced —even sick—reliance on men critical to her life provide a useful context.

Defendant was born in 1977 to the consensual union of Dennis James Corley and Carrie Lee Blake in Brooklyn, New York. The parents lived together until Blake was four; since then they have remained friends. The mother has allowed Blake's father to reside at her home when he needed a place to stay. At times Blake maintained some relationship with her father, but she went through extended periods of rare or no contact.

Both parents have a history of drug abuse. Her father apparently still uses narcotics. Beginning at the age of four, Blake would find her mother's drug paraphernalia around the house. When the defendant was five, her mother began a romantic relationship with a woman who also abused drugs. This relationship ended in 1998; Blake's mother and her former companion remain friends.

Blake's mother always held a job and financially supported the defendant. Since her mother stopped taking drugs in 1992, she has tried to guide defendant. She encouraged the defendant to pursue acting and modeling careers. Her mother, father, other relatives, friends, and a member of the cloth have supported defendant by attending her various appearances in court and in encouraging her rehabilitation attempts.

In October of 1996, when defendant was...