Opinion ID: 180412
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Distinguishing between an upward departure and a variance

Text: Stewart also argues that the district court failed to clarify whether the sentence imposed constitutes a departure or a variance from the Guidelines. Although a court's failure to distinguish between a departure and a variance might in some circumstances affect the sentence's procedural reasonableness, the court in the present case made no such mistake. See United States v. Herrera-Zuniga, 571 F.3d 568, 588 n. 11 (6th Cir.2009) (suggesting that, in some situations, the failure to explain the basis for a deviation or an adjusted sentencing range might create confusion that itself rises to the level of sentencing error). In the present case, the court explicitly stated that its sentencing increase above the Guidelines range constituted an upward variance. The court further clarified that it was imposing a variance rather than a departure by citing Irizarry v. United States, 553 U.S. 708, 128 S.Ct. 2198, 171 L.Ed.2d 28 (2008), for the proposition that there was no need to give notice prior to its sentencing deviation. See Irizarry, 553 U.S. at 713-14, 128 S.Ct. 2198 (holding that notice needs to be given for departures but not for variances). The court also explained that it would identify possible Guidelines departures before deciding whether a non Guidelines variance was appropriate. By carefully following this sentencing procedure, the court made clear that its final sentencing enhancement constituted a variance from the Guidelines rather than a departure.