A couple of criminal sentencing decisions today from the Ninth.
First, in United States v. Bonnett, --- F.3d ---, No. 15-10557 (9th Cir. 2017), the Court joins several other circuits in holding that malingering may support an
obstruction of justice enhancement pursuant to U.S.S.G.
§ 3C1.1.
The Court also held that, when a defendant does not make a factual PSR objection, the district court does not have a Rule-32 obligation to resolve factual disputes.
Finally, the Court found no error in applying the enhancement for
distribution of child pornography for “a thing of value,” based on trading “girl stuff” for “boy stuff.”
Second, in United States v. Slade, --- F.3d ---, No. 16-30150 (9th Cir. 2017), the Court vacated the defendant's sentence, which had been enhanced for a prior crime of violence based on a Washington second-degree assault
conviction, Revised Code of Washington section 9A.36.021.
Following its recent decision in Robinson, the Court concluded section 9A.36.021 criminalizes conduct that
does not meet the generic federal definition of crime of
violence and is not divisible. The Court further determined that its prior decision in United States v. Jennen, 596 F.3d
594 (9th Cir. 2010) -- which reached a contrary conclusion on the crime of violence issue -- was no longer good law following Descamps and Mathis.
