USA v. Ronald Henderson, No. 09-50544 (9th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseDefendant appealed his sentence of 70 months imprisonment followed by a lifetime term of supervised release when he was convicted of possession of child pornography. At issue was whether his sentence was procedurally erroneous due to the district court's refusal to accept his Kimbrough v. United States argument absent guidance from the court and whether his sentence was substantively unreasonable. The court held that it was unable to ascertain whether the district court committed procedural error by failing to appreciate its Kimbrough discretion to vary from the child pornography Guidelines, U.S.S.G. 2G2.2, on policy grounds or whether it recognized, but declined to exercise that discretion. The court also held that only when it was satisfied that the district court appreciated its Kimbrough discretion would it consider the substantive reasonableness of the sentence imposed. Therefore, the court remanded to the district court to resentence exercising its Kimbrough Discretion.
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