AMENDMENT 810
The Commentary to §3E1.1 captioned “Application Notes” is amended in Note 1(A) by striking “However, a defendant who falsely denies, or frivolously contests, relevant conduct that the court determines to be true has acted in a manner inconsistent with acceptance of responsibility” and inserting “A defendant who falsely denies, or frivolously contests, relevant conduct that the court determines to be true has acted in a manner inconsistent with acceptance of responsibility, but the fact that a defendant’s challenge is unsuccessful does not necessarily establish that it was either a false denial or frivolous”.
Reason for Amendment: This amendment responds to concerns that some courts have interpreted the commentary to §3E1.1 (Acceptance of Responsibility) to automatically preclude application of the 2-level reduction for acceptance of responsibility when the defendant makes an unsuccessful good faith, non-frivolous challenge to relevant conduct. Application Note 1 provides a non-exhaustive list of appropriate considerations in determining whether a defendant has clearly demonstrated acceptance of responsibility. Among those considerations is whether the defendant truthfully admitted the conduct comprising the offense(s) of conviction and truthfully admitted or did not falsely deny any additional relevant conduct for which the defendant is accountable under §1B1.3 (Relevant Conduct). See USSG §3E1.1, comment. (n.1(A)). The application note further provides that “a defendant who falsely denies, or frivolously contests, relevant conduct that the court determines to be true has acted in a manner inconsistent with acceptance of responsibility.” The amendment clarifies that an unsuccessful challenge to relevant conduct does not necessarily establish that the challenge was either a false denial or frivolous. Specifically, the amendment adds “but the fact that a defendant’s challenge is unsuccessful does not necessarily establish that it was either a false denial or frivolous” to the end of Application Note 1(A).
Effective Date: The effective date of this amendment is November 1, 2018.