Opinion ID: 2994486
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Sentencing Departure

Text: The defendant next challenges the district court’s decision to depart upward from the Sentencing Guidelines range otherwise applicable to the defendant’s conduct. During the defendant’s sentencing hearing, the district court determined that the government proved by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant committed past uncharged crimes, including the murder of Mrs. Herriott. The district court therefore departed upward from the applicable Sentencing Guidelines range so that the sentence would adequately reflect these past criminal activities. The defendant appeals this departure, arguing that the district court erred in finding that the government proved by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant murdered Mrs. Herriott. The Sentencing Guidelines permit a district court to depart upward from the otherwise applicable sentencing range [i]f reliable information indicates that the criminal history category does not adequately reflect the seriousness of the defendant’s past criminal conduct or the likelihood that the defendant will commit other crimes . . . . U.S.S.G. sec. 4A1.3; see also 18 U.S.C. sec. 3661 (No limitation shall be placed on the information concerning the background, character, and conduct of a person convicted of an offense which a court of the United States may receive and consider for the purpose of imposing an appropriate sentence.). In order to justify such a departure, the government must prove the alleged past criminal conduct on which the departure is based by a preponderance of the evidence. See United States v. Klund, 37 F.3d 1249, 1252 (7th Cir. 1994). Our review of the district court’s decision to depart upward is deferential, see United States v. Fonner, 920 F.2d 1330, 1332 (7th Cir. 1990) (citing United States v. Marshall, 908 F.2d 1312, 1326 (7th Cir. 1990) (en banc)), and ’we give considerable leeway to a district court’s determination of the criminal history category that most accurately reflects the defendant’s true criminal history.’ United States v. Brown, 999 F.2d 1150, 1153 (7th Cir. 1993) (quoting United States v. Schweihs, 971 F.2d 1302, 1319 (7th Cir. 1992)). In this case, the district court departed upward from a criminal history category of V to a criminal history category of VI, and from an offense level of 22 to an offense level of 24, based on its conclusion that the defendant committed past uncharged crimes, including the murder of Mrs. Herriott. In concluding that the defendant murdered Mrs. Herriott, the district court first found that the defendant had both the motive and the opportunity to commit the crime. As to motive, the district court stated that the defendant had two separate reasons for murdering Mrs. Herriott: to profit financially from the disposition of Mrs. Herriott’s estate and to prevent Mrs. Herriott from revealing the fraud that he perpetrated against her. In regard to opportunity, the district court found that the defendant could not account for his whereabouts during the evening of December 1, 1991 and the morning of December 2, 1991, the time during which Mrs. Herriott was allegedly attacked. In light of the defendant’s multiple motives for murdering Mrs. Herriott, and in consideration of the fact that the defendant was the only suspect with the opportunity to commit the crime, the district court determined that the physical and testimonial evidence linking the defendant to the crime was sufficient to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he committed the murder. The physical and testimonial evidence introduced at trial regarding Mrs. Herriott’s death included testimony from a forensic pathologist indicating that the cause of Mrs. Herriott’s death was a blow to the head. The district court also considered evidence that the door was locked when Mrs. Plotner arrived at the house and that the alarm was turned off, and it concluded that the murder was committed by someone who, like the defendant, possessed a key to the house. The district court noted the unusual state of the house, and the appearance that someone had staged the scene to look like an accident, and found that these efforts indicated that the individual involved wished to cover up the murder as if he expected to be a suspect. Lastly, the district court weighed the testimony of Wes Becker and found that the defendant had independent knowledge of the location at which Mrs. Herriott’s glasses were found in the driveway. This evidence, combined with the defendant’s motive and opportunity, was enough to convince the district court that the government proved by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant murdered Mrs. Herriott. In reviewing the district court’s decision to depart upward, we overturn a factual finding only if we are firmly convinced that a mistake was made. United States v. Spears, 159 F.3d 1081, 1088 (7th Cir. 1998). Because we do not find any clear error in the district court’s findings of fact, we consider only whether the district court abused its discretion in finding by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant murdered Mrs. Herriott. See United States v. Trigg, 119 F.3d 493, 502 (7th Cir. 1997) (stating that departures in the criminal history category are generally reviewed for an abuse of discretion). After a review of the factual record, we agree with the district court that reliable evidence indicates that Mrs. Herriott was murdered, and that the defendant had both clear motive and opportunity to commit the crime. Furthermore, the physical evidence indicates that the crime was committed by someone close to Mrs. Herriott, and the defendant’s knowledge of the location at which the glasses were found links him to the crime. Against this factual backdrop, and in light of our deferential standard of review, we cannot conclude that the district court erred in departing upward from the otherwise applicable sentencing range based on its conclusion that the defendant’s criminal history category did not adequately reflect his past crimes.