Criminal Law and Procedure Decisions: Buford v. United States</titl <body>  <script language="javascript1.1" src="http://images.findlaw.com/tracking/wss-lp.js"></script> <script language="javascript1.1" src="http://images.findlaw.com/tracking/hbx-0250.js"></script> <noscript> <img src="http://ehg-findlaw.hitbox.com/HG?hc=we76&cd=1&hv=6&ce=u&hb=DM531216MLSZ&n=LP&vcon=NO+JAVASCRIPT&vpc=HBX0250u" border="0" width="1" height="1"> </noscript>  <div id="main"> <div id="doc3" class="pro"> <div id="bd"> <div class="yui-g" id="header"> <div id="header_sub_center"> <h1 id="logo"><a href="http://lp.findlaw.com"><b>FindLaw | Find a Lawyer. Find Answers.</b></a></h1> <div id="question"> <h3><a href="http://www.findlaw.com/" class="c_4">Non-Professional? 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United States</h5><p align="center"><b>Sentencing Guidelines – Standard of Review for Related Prior Convictions</b></p><p><b>Case: <a href="http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=99-9073">Buford v. United States</a></b></p><p><b>Issue</b>: “What standard of review applies when a [federal] court of appeals reviews a [federal] trial court’s Sentencing Guideline determination as to whether an offender’s prior convictions were consolidated, hence ‘related,’ for purposes of sentencing?”</p><p><b>Facts</b>: Petitioner Paula Buford pled guilty to armed bank robbery in federal court. When it came time to determine a sentence, the federal judge had to decide whether Buford’s five prior 1992 Wisconsin state-court convictions were “related” to one another. Under the Sentencing Guidelines, a “career offender,” defined as an offender with “at least two prior felony convictions” for violent or drug-related crimes, USSG § 4B1.1, is subject to “particularly severe punishment.” When determining how many prior convictions a defendant has, a judge must treat “related” convictions as only one single conviction; convictions that are consolidated for trial or sentencing are deemed “related.” USSG § 4A1.2. The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has developed precedent under which prior convictions may be “consolidated for sentencing” and therefore “related” even when the original sentencing court did not enter a formal order of consolidation. If the prior convictions were “functionally consolidated,” which means that they were “factually or logically related and sentencing was joint,” the federal sentencing judge should count them as “consolidated for sentencing” and “related” under the Guidelines.</p><p>In Buford’s case, the Government conceded that four of her prior convictions – all for armed robbery – were related; they involved a series of related gas station robberies, they had been subject to a single criminal indictment, Buford pled guilty to all four charges at the same time in front of the same judge, and the cases were consolidated into one judgement at sentencing. The Government, however, argued that Buford’s fifth prior conviction – a drug crime involving possession of cocaine with intent to deliver – was not related to the robberies. The only evidentiary link between the drug crime and the robberies was the cocaine which officers discovered while searching Buford’s apartment after the robberies. The drug offense was charged in a separate indictment, assigned to a separate prosecutor, and a different judge accepted the drug guilty plea on a different date than the robbery pleas. Though the same sentencing judge pronounced sentence on the drug and robbery charges, the sentencing court heard evidence from two different prosecutors, entered two separate judgments, and did not consolidate the drug and robbery convictions. Buford argued that her fifth conviction was related to the robberies, claiming that the robberies had been motivated by her drug addiction and that she was sentenced on the same day by the same state judge on the robbery and drug convictions.</p><p>The District Court held that the drug conviction had not been consolidated with the other four charges for sentencing, either formally or functionally, and that therefore the drug and robbery convictions were not “related.” The District Court accordingly sentenced Buford as a career offender. Buford appealed and the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, finding that the “functional consolidation” question was a close one, wrote that “the standard of appellate review may be dispositive.” Adopting a deferential standard, rather than reviewing the issue <u>de novo</u>, the Seventh Circuit affirmed Buford’s sentence.</p><p><b>Holding</b>: “We conclude that the Court of Appeals properly reviewed the District Court’s ‘functional consolidation’ decision deferentially.” The judgment of the Seventh Circuit was therefore affirmed. </p><p><b>Reasoning</b>: Justice Breyer, writing for the unanimous Court, concluded that a deferential standard of review was appropriate because the trial court “is in a better position than the appellate court to decide whether a particular set of individual circumstances demonstrates ‘functional consolidation.’” First, the trial court has more experience and is better equipped to make such determinations. The district court sees many more consolidations than an appellate court, and is more familiar with the trial and sentencing practices in general. Moreover, the trial court is more familiar with consolidation procedures and with which procedures the relevant state and federal courts follow. Second, “factual nuance may closely guide the legal decision, with legal results depending heavily upon an understanding of the significance of case-specific details.”</p><p><b>Comment</b>: Though the Court’s holding is technically limited to the proper standard of review for “functional consolidation” cases, there is no reason to believe that it will not apply to all “consolidated for sentencing” questions under the Guidelines.</p></div> </div>       <div id="fl_container3"> <script language="javascript">fl_legal_645x52();</script> <script language="javascript">fl_legal_645x52();</script> <script language="javascript">fl_legal_645x52();</script> <div id="fl_label">Ads by FindLaw</div> </div> <script> hide_box('fl_container3'); </script>   <div id="fl_container_goog"> <script language="JavaScript1.1" src="http://images.findlaw.com/lp/google.js"></script> <script language="JavaScript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"></script> </div>  </div> </div> <div class="nav_right rn_inner">  <div class="sections yui-g"> <h2 class="right" style="color:#666666;">Welcome Legal Professionals</h2> <p>FindLaw provides the resources to help you practice law. 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