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Before a Sentencing Court Turns Assault Into Murder, It Needs to Follow the Proper Standards

By Douglas A. Berman

Yesterday, in United States v. Azure, the Eighth Circuit vacated and remanded the sentence imposed on defendant Tamara Azure, a/k/a Tamara Wind, after the district court essentially used two assault convictions to impose a sentence for a dismissed murder charge.  In doing so, the Eighth Circuit focused on the failure to apply proper standards, but did not consider the appropriateness of relying on a dismissed charge to achieve a massive increase in the imposed sentence.  The sentencing court stated it was ?troubled by the tail wagging the dog,? in that while Wind had pled guilty to ?two penny-ante assaults with a dangerous weapon, . . . those convictions were being converted into a sentencing hearing for murder.?  Despite the supposed reservation, the district court was apparently more concerned with the defendant?s violent (though largely not prosecuted) past and the dismissed murder count, and proceeded to jack up the sentence from the guidelines ranges of 37 to 46 months for each charge to a total sentence of 180 months...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on August 07, 2008 (boomark / email).