Lane T. Mele v. Fitchburg District Court

TORRUELLA, Circuit Judge.

Fitchburg District Court (“Fitchburg”) appeals the decision by the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, which held that the Massachusetts court had violated the rules established in North Carolina v. Pearce, 395 U.S. 711, 89 S.Ct. 2072, 23 L.Ed.2d 656 (1969), and therefore vacated Lane Mele’s sentence.

I

In Pearce, the Supreme Court held that a defendant’s due process rights were violated when a judge enhanced a sentence because of vindictiveness after the defendant’s successful appeal. Nevertheless, there exists no constitutional bar to a…