United States v. Robert Mercado, Jr., United States of America v. Daniel Bravo, Aka's Sporty Seal G

I respectfully dissent from the majority’s holding that district courts can rely on acquitted conduct when sentencing criminal defendants.1 Although the. majority holds that United States v. Watts, 519 U.S. 148, 117 S.Ct. 633, 136 L.Ed.2d 554 (1997) (per curiam), presents a “complete answer to the issue before us,” maj. op. at 656, the Supreme Court has concluded otherwise, as do I. United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 125 S.Ct. 738, 160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005). In Booker, the Court explained that Watts addressed only a “very narrow” Fifth Amendment issue unrelated to the Sixth Amendment…