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District Court's Failure to Provide Notice of Above Advisory Guideline Sentence Does Not Constitute Due Process Violation

By Candace Hom, Melinda Ghilardi, Nancy Rimmer, Sarah Gannett, Renee Pietropaolo and Tieffa Harper

In United States v. Ausburn, No. 06-2250 (3d Cir. September 10, 2007), the Third Circuit held that a district court?s failure to provide notice of its intention to impose a sentence above the advisory guideline range (in this case more than double the high end of the guideline range) does not violate due process. However, the Court also held that the district court?s failure to provide a sufficient statement of reasons explaining the significant upward variance rendered the sentence unreasonable. The sentence, therefore, was vacated and the matter remanded for re-sentencing.Ausburn was a police detective who, in his capacity as such, came into contact with a fourteen year old girl whose family permitted a relationship between the two for Ausburn to act as a "role model" and "positive influence" in the girl?s life...continue to full post

Full post as published by Third Circuit Blog on September 28, 2007 (boomark / email).