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Foley: Sentencing Court abdicated responsibility

By Tim Cone

In U.S. v. Foley, No. 06-11145 (Nov. 21, 2007), on a government appeal of a sentence of a defendant convicted of fraud, the Court reversed the sentence and remanded for resentencing.The Court agreed with the government that the district court erred in believing that the forfeiture amount found by the jury bound the court when calculating the amount of "loss" for sentencing purposes. The Court noted that forfeiture and loss are distinct, and require distinct calculations. Loss takes account of "relevant conduct." The sentencing court therefore "abdicated its responsibility" to make independent Guideline findings.The Court also found that the district court erred, when calculating the number of victims, in relying on the number of persons who had responded to a probation office questionnaire...continue to full post

Full post as published by Defense Newsletter Blog on November 26, 2007 (boomark / email).