Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals - Published Opinions

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

No Booker error when Guideline max was imposed

In U.S. v. Curtis, No. 02-16224 (11th Cir. Feb. 28, 2005), the Court modified a footnote in its prior opinion, 380 F.3d 1308 finding no plain error in an alleged Blakely violation at sentencing. The Court stated that Curtis could not satisfy the third prong of its plain error analysis announced in Rodriguez. The Court noted that Curtis had been sentenced at the high end of the Guideline range. This action was inconsistent with any suggestion that the sentencing judge might have imposed a lower sentence had the Guidelines been advisory.