Summary
The Fifth Circuit granted the Government’s unopposed motion to remand an appeal concerning D’Laun Ball’s probation-revocation sentence. In a concurrence, Judge Oldham discussed the court’s identification of an overlooked Sentencing Guidelines policy statement and its implications for the party-presentation principle and Anders proceedings.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the Government's unopposed motion to remand should be granted after the Fifth Circuit identified a potentially outcome-determinative sentencing-policy-statement issue under Anders.
Holdings
- The court granted the appellee's unopposed motion to remand.
Key quotations
“IT IS ORDERED that appellee’s unopposed motion to remand is GRANTED.” (at 1)
“Courts have the power and duty to find and apply the correct legal principles regardless of what the parties say.” (at 3)
Factual background
The district court revoked D’Laun Ball's probation and sentenced him to 46 months of imprisonment. The opinion states that U.S.S.G. § 7B1.4(a) recommended a three-to-nine-month range for an offender like Ball, but defense counsel, the Government, and apparently the district court did not address the policy statement. Defense counsel also failed to identify the issue in the Anders brief until after the Fifth Circuit raised it.
Procedural history
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi revoked Ball's probation and imposed a 46-month prison sentence. Neither the parties nor the district court addressed the advisory policy statement recommending a three-to-nine-month range under U.S.S.G. § 7B1.4(a). After defense counsel filed an Anders brief stating that the appeal presented no legally nonfrivolous basis for reversal, the Fifth Circuit identified the policy-statement issue and granted the Government's unopposed motion to remand.
Remand instructions
The case was remanded pursuant to the appellee's unopposed motion. The order does not specify further instructions.