Opinion ID: 691961
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Reviewing Departures Generally

Text: 35 A court may depart from the Sentencing Guidelines if it determines that there exists an aggravating or mitigating circumstance of a kind, or to a degree, not adequately taken into consideration by the Sentencing Commission. 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3553(b). We will vacate a sentence and remand for resentencing if the district court fails to follow the procedures for making such a departure. See, e.g., Burns v. United States, 501 U.S. 129, 139-40, 111 S.Ct. 2182, 2188, 115 L.Ed.2d 123 (1991) (vacating sentence because district court did not give advance notice of its desire to depart on a ground not mentioned in the defendant's PSR or in a presentence hearing submission by the government). 36 When reviewing a departure from the Guidelines, we first determine, de novo, whether the reasons articulated by the district court for the departure are of a kind or a degree that may be appropriately relied upon to justify the departure. See United States v. Williams, 37 F.3d 82, 85 (2d Cir.1994); United States v. Fadayini, 28 F.3d 1236, 1241 (D.C.Cir.1994). We then determine whether the findings of fact supporting the district court's reasoning are clearly erroneous. See Williams, 37 F.3d at 85. Having cleared these first two hurdles, we then review whether the extent of the departure was reasonable, giving considerable deference to the district court. See id. That said, we will vacate a sentence and remand for resentencing because of a misapplication of the Guidelines only if we determine that the error was not harmless. See Williams v. United States, 503 U.S. 193, 201-05, 112 S.Ct. 1112, 1120-21, 117 L.Ed.2d 341 (1992).