United States v. Ronald Henry

This case presents the question whether the acceptance of responsibility provision, section 3E1.1, of the Sentencing Guidelines 1 violates either the fifth or sixth amendment to the Constitution. 2 Appellant contends that section 3E1.1 violates the fifth amendment 3 where, as here, the defendant has testified to his innocence at trial: if he is convicted, he later must in effect confess to perjury to receive a lower sentence; thus, section 3E1.1 penalizes him if he does not confess and, therefore, punishes him for failing to incriminate himself. Appellant contends that the section violates…