Opinion ID: 203924
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Disruption of Government Function

Text: We similarly refuse to revisit our prior affirmance of the district court's decision to depart upwardly based on appellant's disruption of government functions. See Wallace, 461 F.3d at 36-37. We held that the departure was justified by Wallace's deliberate evasion of arrest, which required the government to expend significant resources in trying him separately, four years after the initial trial of his co-conspirator. Id. at 37. He now argues that there were insufficient factual findings in the record to support the departure because the government cannot prove that its ability to prosecute the underlying crime was materially prejudiced by Wallace's evasion of arrest. Here, too, his arguments are unavailing. Our prior opinion provided a full explanation as to why the departure was justified even on the record as it stood after the first sentencing. Id. at 36-37. On remand, the district court, in addition to citing our decision that the departure was appropriate, reiterated its own reasons for imposing the departure. The reasonableness of this explanation precludes any argument that the application of this departure works a manifest injustice in Wallace's case. Therefore, this claim is also barred by the law of the case doctrine.