I Won, I Won!

Much to my surprise, I checked the Fourth Circuit website this afternoon to find that the court had not only decided one of the cases in which I had oral argument, but the court vacated and remanded for resentencing. Whoo-hoo, I won at the Fourth Circuit! In a full-on 24-page published opinion (complete with dissent), no less. A win is a win, but this one is leaving me a little cold. This case was briefed before Blakely came out last summer and had a really interesting issue involving various possible interpretations of an earlier Fourth Circuit case. However, with the Supreme Court's recent decisions in Booker and Shepard, the Court was able to vacate and remand without actually reaching that issue (which is still relevant at resentencing). So I sort of feel like it must when you win a soccer game on an own-goal or win a race because the guy in front of you blows up. You had to do good work to be in the right place to profit from changing circumstances, but you're not completely responsible for the result.

But, still, a win is a win, especially in the Fourth!