United States v. Smith

I respectfully dissent from the failure to notice the error in defendant Moore’s life sentence, vacate Moore’s sentence, and remand for resentencing. See Majority Opinion at 271. In all other respects, I concur in the majority opinion.

I

In United States v. Hughes, 401 F.3d 540, 547 (4th Cir.2005), the Fourth Circuit set forth its approach to analyzing Booker Sixth Amendment violations raised for the first time on direct appeal. This case is the first post-Hughes case in which the Fourth Circuit has applied Hughes, held that a Booker Sixth Amendment violation took place, recognized that the…