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A New Twist on Standard of Proof at Sentencing

By Bill Theis

United States v. Christopher K.P. Reuter, No. 05-4503 (September 19, 2006): Mr. Reuter?s guidelines range, without adjustments, initially topped out at 105 months. However, the district court found that he had committed a murder during the course of the conspiracy. With that finding (and several unspecified others), his range became 360 to 480 months, and he received a sentence of 360 months.His attorney filed an Anders brief. The Seventh Circuit acknowledged the claim that the calculations should have been made under a clear and convincing standard, since the sentence after the enhancements was the proverbial tail wagging the dog. However, since Mr. Reuter had confessed to the murder and since his confession had been corroborated, the Court concluded that this higher standard would have made no difference...continue to full post

Full post as published by Seventh Circuit Blog on September 19, 2006 (boomark / email).