In U.S. v. Quan Chau, No. 05-10640 (Sept. 27, 2005), the Court, on "plain error" review, rejected the argument that the sentencing court erred in using hearsay evidence at the defendant’s sentencing hearing, in violation of the Confrontation Clause right recognized in Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004).
The Court noted that Crawford involved the use of testimonial evidence at trial, not sentencing. The Court recognized that its rule may be extended to sentencings in the future. However, in view of other Circuits’ holdings that Crawford does not alter the law that admission of hearsay testimony at sentencings is "okay," and the absence of precedent from the Eleventh Circuit or the Supreme Court on point, no plain error occurred.
The Court also rejected the challlenge to the defendant’s sentence, pointing out that the district court recognized its post-Booker authority to treat the Guidelines as advisory, even as it imposed a Guideline sentence.
