Thursday, April 17, 2008

Sparse Statement Insufficient, But Sentence Affirmed

US v. Rainwater, No. 07-6185 (10th Cir. 4/16/08)(unpublished); Although this appeal was filed as Anders brief and the Tenth ultimately affirms, it is notable because the Tenth concludes that the district court's sparse statement imposing a 24 month sentence for violating supervised release conditions gave the Court no reason to conclude that it had considered the Chapter 7 policy statements and the 3553(a) factors when imposing sentence. Unfortunately, Rainwater couldn't prove prejudice because, although 24 months was the statutory max, the policy statement recommended a range of 33-41 months and Ms. Rainwater had a lengthy criminal history.