Seventeen-year-old defendant was entitled to new sentencing hearing on charges of vehicular robbery by force and discharge of firearm in relation to crime of violence. Dist. Ct. sentenced defendant to 50-year term of incarceration, while applicable maximum sentence under guidelines was approximately 18 years, and Dist. Ct.’s explanation for defendant’s sentence, i.e., that defendant’s shooting of victim in eye, which caused her permanent injuries, was “flat out evil,” and that said sentence reflected seriousness of offense and need to protect public, was inadequate to explain why Dist. Ct. deviated from sentencing guidelines by approximately 31 years beyond top of guideline range. Moreover, there was nothing in record to reflect why sentence between 20 to 40 years would have been insufficient to serve goals of punishment, and Dist. Ct. otherwise made irrelevant observations regarding dating girl in victim’s neighborhood and about Tet Offensive in Vietnam War.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Criminal Court
Sentencing