Criminal Matters

In US v. Christensen, No. 08-30120, the court of appeals reversed defendant's sentence for enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity and obstruction of justice for failing to appear at trial, on the ground that a Sentencing Commission amendment providing that U.S.S.G. section 2G1.3(b)(2)(B)'s sentencing enhancement should not be applied where the "minor" is actually an undercover officer applied retroactively and thus affected defendant's sentence.

In US v. Denton, No. 09-50253, the Ninth Circuit reversed defendant's sentence following the revocation of his supervised release for physically abusing his girlfriend, on the ground that a defendant's uncharged conduct, which would be chargeable under California law as a wobbler offense -- an offense that may be charged as either a misdemeanor or a felony -- was not presumptively a felony, punishable by more than one year in prison, for the purposes of calculating whether the defendant committed a Grade A, B, or C violation of his supervised release.

Related Resources

• Full Text of US v. Christensen, No. 08-30120
• Full Text of US v. Denton, No. 09-50253