Third Circuit panel finds error where district court "improperly relied on [defendant's] bare arrest record in determining his sentence"

I just saw the Third Circuit panel ruling from late last week in US v. Mitchell, No. 17-1095 (3d Cir. Dec. 5, 2019) (available here), which makes a strong statement against the reliance on an arrest record at sentencing.  Here is how the opinion starts and key passages thereafter:

A jury found Tyrone Mitchell guilty of seventeen drug distribution and firearms offenses.  Mitchell appeals his judgment of conviction and sentence of 1,020 months’ imprisonment, raising eight arguments nearly all of which are unavailing.  We do, however, agree with Mitchell as to one sentencing-related argument — that the District Court plainly erred by relying on Mitchell’s bare arrest record to determine his sentence.  We therefore affirm Mitchell’s judgment of conviction, vacate the judgment of sentence, and remand for resentencing....

Under the Due Process Clause, “[a] defendant cannot be deprived of liberty based upon mere speculation.”  Accordingly, in determining a sentence, although a court can mention a defendant’s record of prior arrests that did not lead to conviction, it cannot rely on such a record.  As we recognized in United States v. Berry, “a bare arrest record — without more — does not justify an assumption that a defendant has committed other crimes.”...

Contrary to the Government’s assertions, Mitchell did not just demonstrate that the District Court “noticed that he had a number of arrests that did not result in convictions.”  To the contrary, Mitchell has “bridge[d] the gap between reference and reliance,” and has thus shown plain error.  Looking at the record below in its entirety, we conclude that the District Court improperly relied on Mitchell’s bare arrest record in determining his sentence.  For example, the Court interrupted the prosecutor to highlight Mitchell’s arrests and later recited all 18 of Mitchell’s arrests.  The Court also explicitly referred to Mitchell’s arrests when describing his “long and serious” criminal record and identified Mitchell’s “extensive criminal history” as the sole justification for his sentence.  Resentencing is therefore required.

Via Law http://www.rssmix.com/