United States v. Gray

The Ninth Circuit vacated defendant's 20 month sentence imposed after revocation of supervised release. In this case, in its order sentencing defendant, the district court relied on the probation officer's confidential sentencing recommendation, which included factual information that had not been disclosed to defendant and to which she had no opportunity to respond before her sentence was imposed.The panel took the opportunity to address the procedure employed by the district court, holding that even if the defendant is given an opportunity to appear and speak before the magistrate judge, the district court must provide the defendant an additional opportunity before the actual sentence is imposed. In this case, defendant's failure to obtain a hearing before the district court by objecting to the magistrate judge's finding and recommendation did not constitute an explicit waiver of her right to be present and allocute at the imposition of her sentence. Therefore, the panel remanded for resentencing. View "United States v. Gray" on Justia Law