UNITED STATES Certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the seventh circuit No. 99-9073. Argued January 8, 2001--Decided March 20, 2001 TYPE OF CASE. This case has to deal with the certiorari (Latin for to be informed) from the United States Court of appeals for the seventh district. This case raises a question of the sentencing laws. What is the standard of review as it applies when a court of appeals reviews a trial courts Sentencing Guideline determination as to whether an offenders prior convictions were consolidated, hence related, for purposes of sentencing? In particular, should the appeals court review the trial courts decision deferentially or de novo? FACTS OF THE CASE The trial court decision at issue focused on one aspect of the United States Sentencing Guidelines' treatment of "career offenders," a category of offender subject to particularly severe punishment. The Guidelines define a "career offender" as an offender with "at least two prior felony convictions" for violent or drug-related crimes. United States Sentencing Commission, Guidelines Manual 4B1.1 (Nov. 2000) (USSG). Petitioner Buford pleaded guilty to armed bank robbery. At sentencing, the Government conceded that her four prior robbery convictions were related, but did not concede that her prior drug conviction was related to the robberies. The drug crime (possession of, with intent to deliver, cocaine) had taken place about the same time as the fourth robbery, and Buford claimed that the robberies had been motivated by her drug addiction. But the only evidentiary link among the crimes was that the police had discovered the cocaine when searching Buford's house after her arrest for the robberies. Moreover, no formal order of consolidation had been entered. The State had charged the drug offense in a separate indictment and had assigned a different prosecutor to handle the drug case. A different judge had heard Buford plead guilty to the drug...
