United States v. Boneshirt, No. 10-3108 (8th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseDefendant pleaded guilty to one count of second degree murder and the district court sentenced him to 576 months' imprisonment. On appeal, defendant challenged the substantive reasonableness of his sentence. The court held that the government failed to prove that defendant's appeal was barred by the waiver in his plea agreement. The court also held that the district court did not abuse its discretion and imposed an unreasonable sentence by selecting a high but within-Guidelines sentence for a homicide offense. Accordingly, the judgment was affirmed.
Court Description: Criminal case - Sentencing. Appeal waiver would not be enforced as the record shows the district court did not discuss the appeal waiver with defendant; sentence was not substantively unreasonable as the court discussed the 3553(a) factors and did not err in giving weight to the need to protect the public from defendant, his post-arrest conduct, including an attempted escape, and the nature of the offense. Judge Bright, concurring in part and dissenting in part.
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