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Sentencing – Sentence Reduction

By: Derek Hawkins//August 16, 2016//

Sentencing – Sentence Reduction

By: Derek Hawkins//August 16, 2016//

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7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Robert J. Miller

Case No.: 15-3584

Officials: WOOD, Chief Judge, and POSNER and ROVNER, Circuit Judges

Focus: Sentencing – Sentence Reduction

Judge erred in failing to consider whether defendant is likely to remain a danger to community during sentencing.

“Apart from the fact that the government does not question the certificates’ authenticity and could not have objected to their admission in the district court had they been introduced there, the failure to submit them in that court was the fault not of the defendant but of his lawyer. The lawyer knew about the certificates—he had written his client eight days after filing his motion for a further reduction in the defendant’s sentence, acknowledging receipt of his “awards and certificates.” But instead of passing this information on to the district court, or using it to counter the government’s response in opposition, the lawyer simply told the defendant that he would put digital copies of the documents “into our file for use in any hearing that may be held in reference to your contested sentence reduction.” We can’t begin to understand why, rather than sit back waiting for a hearing that never happened, the lawyer didn’t use the documents to help support his client’s motion to reduce sentence. Had the lawyer followed his client’s instructions the district judge would have seen the certificates and the defendant’s case would have been strengthened. And before deciding that reducing the defendant’s sentence would pose a danger to society, the judge could have asked the government for a statement by the prison warden concerning the defendant’s current behavior in prison, an inquiry that would probably have yielded information about the defendant’s efforts to obtain a GED.”

Vacated and Remanded

Full Text


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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