United States Eighth Circuit

In a case arising from a cross-burning incident, defendants' sentences for conspiring to threaten and intimidate an African-American man in the exercise of his housing rights because of his race are vacated where the district court did not correctly calculate the applicable guidelines range, as it failed to apply a three-level enhancement for hate crime motivation and improperly granted a two-level reduction for the defendants' supposedly minor roles in the offense.

Appellate Information

• Decided 02/28/2008
• Published 02/28/2008

Judges

• WOLLMAN, Circuit Judge., Before WOLLMAN and SMITH, Circuit Judges, and GRITZNER, District Judge.

Court

• United States Eighth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Tovah Calderon, argued, Jessica Dunsay Silver, on the brief, Dept. of Justice, Washington, DC, for Appellant.


• For Appellees:
  
• John F. Stroud III, Texarkana, TX, argued, for Appellee Weems., Thomas H. Johnson, Texarkana, TX, argued, for Appellee Mitchell.