Opinion ID: 222147
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure of Guidelines to account adequately for each additional victim

Text: Second, the court found that the Guidelines did not adequately account for Ms. Lente's offense causing multiple deaths. Under the Guidelines' grouping rules, Ms. Lente was assessed four units for her four convictions (three involuntary manslaughter and one assault resulting in serious bodily injury), which resulted in a four-level increase to her Guidelines range. See U.S.S.G. § 3D1.4. The district court noted that [i]n accordance with these rules, the bottom end of Lente's sentencing range was increased by 5-6 months for each of her four victims. R. Vol. 1 at 442. The court concluded that 5 or 6 months did not adequately represent the value of each of these young lives. The court stressed it was not finding the Guidelines are categorically inadequate at accounting for the value of the victims' lives. It explained that the Guidelines may be adequate when there is one victim or when the victim or victims shared some minor culpability (e.g., the victims themselves were intoxicated or willfully rode in a car with an intoxicated driver). But here, where the victims are entirely blameless, the court concluded that the Guidelines do not sufficiently enhance a defendant's sentence for these additional victims. Id. at 443. Finally, the court noted that the government had proffered data showing the rarity of drunk driving offenses that result in three deathsin 2005, the average number of fatalities per drunk-driving related crash was 1.16. Ms. Lente killed almost three times as many people as the average and seriously injured another. The court stated that [t]hese statistics help show the tragic nature of this particular crash. . . [and] they help illustrate why the 5-6 month enhancement provided by the Guidelines for each victim insufficiently represents the unusual violence of this crime. Id.