I Won! I Won!

Hey, it doesn't happen very often, so I can brag a bit, can I? Today the Fourth Circuit handed down its decision in US v. Milam, in which the court vacated my client's sentence under Booker. Milam is fairly big because it nails down the holding that a defendant's failure to object to facts in a presentence report cannot waive his Sixth Amendment sentencing rights. For more on what that actually means, click here.

Ironically, in light of yesterday's post about argument by ambush, this case is a prime example. I walked into the courthouse in Richmond needing to distinguish another case from this one in order to prevail. As it happened, two of the three judges who decided the prior case were on the panel in Milam. Didn't matter in the end, but I thought I was completely screwed when I stepped up to the lectern.