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Procedural Reasonableness Claim Preserved; Judge's Sparse Explanation Sufficient

By Shari Allison

U.S. v. Hernandez-Valois, 2009 WL 301829 (2/9/09) (unpub'd) - A trial attorney shows how one can preserve a procedural reasonableness claim. Hurray. The trial attorney asked the district court for the court's findings with respect to the downward variance request. The judge responded: "Well, my findings are obvious. . . . I think he's already got enough. And with his criminal history category, I think he's getting exactly what he deserves." Because of the successful preservation of the issue, the defendant got de novo review. But the 10th felt the judge gave a sufficient explanation. The 10th also held the presumption of substantive reasonableness applies to a within-Guidelines sentence, even though the government offers Fast-Track pleas to some and not others.continue to full post

Full post as published by Tenth Circuit Blog on February 17, 2009 (boomark / email).