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Thoughtful and nuanced discussion of procedural reasonableness from Tenth Circuit

By Douglas A. Berman

The Tenth Circuit issued a lengthy opinion yesterday in US v. Mendoza, No. 07-3181 (10th Cir. Oct. 1, 2008) (available here), that addresses a number of notable procedural issues in the course of rejecting a government appeal of a below-guideline sentence. Here is how the opinion starts: Although the United States Sentencing Guidelines (?Guidelines?) advise that defendant-appellee Jesus Mendoza receive a minimum of 324 months? imprisonment for his drug conviction, the district court varied downward and imposed a 240-month sentence.  On appeal, the government urges us to vacate and remand for resentencing, arguing that the district court committed procedural error by (1) declining to give specific reasons for the variance, and (2) failing to enter a written statement of reasons as required by 18 U...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on October 02, 2008 (boomark / email).