Opinion ID: 832307
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Use of Acquitted Conduct Generally

Text: In United States v Watts,2 the United States Supreme Court held that a jury’s verdict of acquittal does not prevent the sentencing court from considering conduct underlying the acquitted charge. To qualify for consideration, the conduct need be proven by only a preponderance of the evidence. Watts involved a challenge to the use of acquitted conduct under the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Relying on Watts, every federal circuit that has considered the issue since has concluded that the use of acquitted conduct at sentencing is constitutional.3 In United States v White,4 the Sixth Circuit, sitting en banc, divided 9-6 on whether the use during sentencing of facts underlying an acquittal constitutes a Sixth Amendment violation. The majority concluded that it does not, under Booker, as long as the resulting sentence does not exceed “the statutory ceiling set by the jury’s verdict. . . .”5 2