U.S. v. Johnson

Defendant was convicted by a jury of attempted bank robbery and the district court sentenced him to 168 months in prison. Defendant subsequently testified on behalf of the prosecution in a sentencing hearing of a fellow inmate and the government filed a motion for a 25 percent in reduction in defendant’s sentence. The district court reduced defendant’s sentence by 10 percent after finding that defendant had engaged in vexatious litigation and had not acknowledged responsibility and defendant appealed. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, finding that whether the conduct deserved the weight the district court attributed to it was an unreviewable discretionary determination. (BRENNAN and ROVNER, concurring)