Posted On:
January 6, 2009
4th Circuit - U.S. v. Dunphy
In U.S. v. Dunphy, an opinion interpreting the recent sentencing guidelines amendment for crack cocaine, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals held that an amended sentence based on the crack cocaine reduction cannot be reduced below the minimum sentence in the new, amended, guideline range:
The district court here expressly considered the § 3553(a) factors in making the determination (1) that a reduction of Dunphy’s term of imprisonment was warranted and (2) that the extent of the reduction for Dunphy should be to the minimum of the amended guideline range. It properly did so in accord with the limits described in U.S.S.G. § 1B1.10(b), refusing to go below the minimum of the amended guideline range.8 J.A. 82-83 . . .When a sentence is within the guidelines applicable at the time of the original sentencing, in an 18 U.S.C § 3582(c) resentencing hearing, a district judge is not authorized to reduce a defendant’s sentence below the amended guideline range.
