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Within-Guidelines Sentence Affirmed in Reentry Case

By Shari Allison

United States v. Martinez-Barragan, ___ F.3d ___, 2008 WL 4632806 (10th Cir. 2008)Sentence for reentry after aggravated felony is procedurally (PR) and substantively reasonable (SR). PR: COA ducks whether to review under plain error standard because it found there was no error, but signals that the ?unforeseeable error? doctrine that avoids PE review might no longer be viable. ?Heartland? is a term that applies to both guideline and 18 USC § 3553 analyses, so district court determination that case was not outside the heartland did not signify it was mandatorily applying the GL. COA says that GL and variance analyses are distinct and must not be confused but a judge does not commit reversible error by consolidating the two discussions (thus freeing district courts even further from having to be thorough and clear)...continue to full post

Full post as published by Tenth Circuit Blog on October 22, 2008 (boomark / email).