Opinion ID: 3036321
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Effect of Booker

Text: [3] Even if we were to read Bad Marriage I to hold that on the facts no upward departure from the Guidelines range is justified, the law of the case doctrine does not bar the sentence. “Under the ‘law of the case’ doctrine, a court is ordinarily precluded from reexamining an issue previously decided by the same court, or a higher court, in the same case.” Minidoka Irrigation Dist. v. Dep’t of Interior, 406 F.3d 567, 573 (9th Cir. 2005) (quoting Old Person v. Brown, 312 F.3d 1036, 1039 (9th Cir. 2002)). The doctrine is subject to three exceptions, only one of which is relevant here, to wit, where intervening controlling authority makes reconsideration appropriate. Id. [4] The opinion in Bad Marriage I was issued on December 30, 2004. On January 12, 2005, the Supreme Court decided Booker, 125 S. Ct. 738. The Booker decision fundamentally changed the sentencing regime under which Bad Marriage I was decided, making the Guidelines advisory rather than mandatory. 125 S. Ct. at 756-57 (district courts must consult the Guidelines but are not bound by them).2 If Bad Marriage I is read to establish the law of the case under a mandatory Sentencing Guidelines regime, Booker, which leaves Guide- 2 Contrary to Bad Marriage’s assertion, the district court was free to consider the Booker issue sua sponte. United States v. Cortez-Arias, 425 F.3d 547, 548 (9th Cir. 2005) UNITED STATES v. BAD MARRIAGE 1907 lines as advisory only, is intervening controlling authority displacing prior law of case.3