« United States v. Wilson...Off to a Flawed Start | Main | A Slew of Booker Cert Grants »
The Application of Booker in United States v. Ranum
United States v. Ranum stands in contrast to the Wilson opinion (see earlier post). Mr. Ranum was a bank officer convicted of misapplying bank funds. Under the guidelines, the defendant was looking at a minimum of 37 months imprisonment. The court correctly applied Booker, noting that “courts may no longer uncritically apply the guidelines.” Taking a direct shot at the Wilson opinion, Ranum states “the approach espoused in Wilson is inconsistent with the holdings of the merits majority in Booker.” The court considered many factors that would have, under the previous mandatory guideline system, been irrelevant. One factor of importance was that the defendant received no monetary benefit at all due to his misapplication of bank funds. Ultimately, the court determined that a sentence of a year and a day was appropriate.
Ranum is a well-written opinion. It is nice to see such a prompt challenge to the approach taken in Wilson. You can download Ranum file here.