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Pleas & Sentencing – Court Error

By: Derek Hawkins//May 31, 2016//

Pleas & Sentencing – Court Error

By: Derek Hawkins//May 31, 2016//

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7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Ella V. Orlando

Case No.: 15-2092

Officials: POSNER, EASTERBROOK, and KANNE, Circuit Judges

Focus: Pleas & Sentencing – Court Error

Government did not breach plea agreement warrant assignment to new judge, however court did err in interpretation of remand order, warranting vacating sentence.

“Further undermining Orlando’s position here is his own attorney’s belief that our remand order did not allow for the district court to reconsider Orlando’s prison sentence. Orlando’s attorney did not object to the district court’s position, and in fact, suggested that he believed the remand order “precluded” revisiting his client’s term of imprisonment during the resentencing. There is insufficient evidence here to find even a minor breach of the plea agreement, let alone a material one that warrants further evaluation under the plain-error standard. While we did not find breach here, we expect that the prosecutor who handles the resentencing hearing on remand will fulfill the promises made by the government in the plea agreement, including its promise to recommend 35 years’ imprisonment. See United States v. Cahill, 920 F.2d 421, 425 (7th Cir. 1990) (“[a]ny agreement made by the government must be scrupulously performed and kept.” (alteration in original and quotation marks omitted)). “

Vacated and remanded

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.

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