Court Opinion

ID: 9483004
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 09:07:30.821319+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:49:21.058693
License: Public Domain

HEANEY, Senior Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I agree that Balfany’s conviction should be affirmed and that the evidentiary issues are properly decided. I also agree that the district court did not clearly err in enhancing Balfany’s offense level by four points based on a finding that Balfany had used threats to commit the assaults and by four more points on the finding that S.N. was under the age of twelve at the time of the assault. I cannot agree, however, that the district court clearly erred in holding that S.N. was not in the custody, care, or supervisory control of Balfany. While this issue is not free from doubt, we should give the same deference to the district court’s finding with respect to its refusal to enhance for this reason as we give to its finding that the other enhancements were proper. If we did so, we would affirm on this issue as well as the others.