Opinion ID: 603593
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Departure Procedure

Text: 18 A district court may not simply, and inexplicably, depart from the applicable guidelines range. United States v. Johnson, 934 F.2d 1237, 1240 (11th Cir.1991). When departing upward under the auspices of § 4A1.3, the court must look first to the next criminal history category. Id. at 1239. If that category adequately reflects the defendant's past conduct, then the court must state its findings and sentence the defendant within the range for the new category. Id. If, on the other hand, the court decides that this new category is still inadequate to reflect the defendant's criminal history, the court must look to the next highest category and repeat its inquiry. Id. at 1239-40. 19 The district court in this case failed to follow the step-by-step procedure that Johnson mandates. Specifically, the record does not reflect that the court considered whether Williams's criminal history fits category VI, the next category. As a result of this procedural fault, the upward departure was in error and requires remand. United States v. Huang, 977 F.2d 540, 544 (11th Cir.1992). 5