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Two notable Eighth Circuit sentencing wins for federal prosecutors

By Douglas A. Berman

Two rulings from the Eighth Circuit today reflect the reality that federal prosecutors still seem to prevail more often than not in tough sentencing appeals.  Here are links and unofficial summaries from ,the circuit's official opinion page: US v. Femsteer, No. 06-2059 (8th Cir. July 3, 2008) (available here):On remand from the Supreme Court of the United States for further consideration under Gall.  The district court committed procedural error and abused its discretion in sentencing defendant to 120 months because, in attempting to explain its reasons for varying downward 240 months from the bottom of the applicable Guidelines range, the court gave significant weight to irrelevant factors (defendant's age, the absence of a weapon in his prior crimes and his completion of probation) and failed to support the extent of its variance with sufficient justifications...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on July 03, 2008 (boomark / email).