U.S. v. Smith

Dist. Ct. erred in imposing on remand same 14-month term of incarceration that Dist. Ct. had imposed at initial sentencing hearing on charge that defendant-police officer used unreasonable and excessive force during arrests of two men who were already in control of other officers. Instant sentence was 19 months below applicable 33-to-41-month guideline range, and Dist. Ct. failed to adequately explain or justify instant below guideline sentence. Moreover, while Dist. Ct. justified sentencing by citing to victims’ wrongful conduct, as well as defendant’s history and characteristics, record did not factually support said citations. Also, record did not support Dist. Ct.’s claim that defendant had accepted responsibility for incidents that led to charged offense, or that reduction of sentence was warranted in light of defendant’s current employment or his attendance at 8-week anger management class. Too, instant below-guideline sentence was inconsistent with defendant’s prior misconduct that included assaults on three-year-old child and child’s mother.