Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Page 3
Ninth Circuit: Real Imposed Unlawful Sentence
By a MetNews Staff Writer
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday remanded a case to U.S. District Court Judge Manuel Real of the Central District of California, saying that he erred by imposing a prison sentence as a condition of probation.
“As we have clearly held, and as the government concedes, the probation statute ‘precludes the imposition of both probation and straight imprisonment.’ United States v. Forbes, 172 F.3d 675, 67 (9th Cir. 1999) (citing 18 U.S.C. §3561),” the memorandum opinion said.
The cited code section provides that a defendant may not be placed on probation if “the defendant is sentenced at the same time to a term of imprisonment for the same or a different offense that is not a petty offense.”
The Ninth Circuit panel—comprised of Judges Stephen Reinhardt, Wallace Tashima and Richard Paez—rejected the contention of the appellant Marcus Andrews that his conviction for mail fraud should be reversed because Real did not authorize payment for trial preparation and an expert witness. The judges said Andrews had failed to show a financial need.
The case is U.S.A. v. Andrews, 15-50218
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