United States Seventh Circuit

Defendant-appellant's conviction and sentence for offenses, stemming from defendant's setting his house on fire in an attempt to collect on an insurance policy, is affirmed where: 1) there was sufficient evidence to support the jury's verdict; 2) there was no error in the district court's guideline calculations as the Sixth Amendment does not require that a jury find that a defendant committed murder before a district court can apply the Sentencing Guidelines' murder cross-reference; 3) there was no error in imposing consecutive statutory maximum sentences equivalent to 190 years for all counts of the conviction because the Guidelines range was life imprisonment; and 4) a Fifth Amendment due process claim was foreclosed by precedent.

Appellate Information

• Argued 10/24/2007
• Decided 04/25/2008
• Published 04/25/2008

Judges

• WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge., Before FLAUM, MANION, and WILLIAMS, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Seventh Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• Patrick S. Layng (argued), Pravin Rao, Office of the United States Attorney, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff-Appellee., William H. Theis (argued), Terence F. MacCarthy, Carol A. Brook, Office of the Federal Defender Program, Chicago, IL, for Defendant-Appellant.