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Esteban Gaspar-Felipe v. United States

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, No. 19-50997 · judgment July 13, 2021


Certiorari denied · January 24, 2022
Pre-decision estimate: 9% cert probability (95% interval 6%–13%)

Before the decision, about 2.2× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a Fifth Circuit decision below, a circuit split argued in the petition, and a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition).

Questions presented

  1. Whether the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause prohibits a federal court from basing a criminal defendant’s sentence on a charge of which a jury acquitted him, as the Michigan Supreme Court has held, or whether, instead, acquitted-conduct sentencing complies with the Fifth Amendment, as 12 federal courts of appeal and the Iowa Supreme Court have held.

  2. Whether the Sixth Amendment’s right to jury trial prohibits a federal court from basing a criminal defendant’s sentence on a charge of which a jury acquitted him. (i)

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Easha Anand
Roderick & Solange MacArthur Justice Center

For respondent
Elizabeth B. Prelogar
Solicitor General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Amicus briefs
3 cert-stage

Proceedings

  1. Jan 24 2022
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Jan 19 2022
    Certificate of Service and Certificate of Word Count filed with respect to amici curiae brief of Judge Nancy Gertner (Ret.), et al.
  3. Jan 14 2022
    Amicus brief of Judge Nancy Gertner and Professor Douglas Berman not accepted for filing. (January 14, 2022 - Corrected brief to be efiled)
  4. Jan 14 2022
    Brief amici curiae of Judge Nancy Gertner and Professor Douglas Berman filed.
  5. Jan 12 2022
    Brief amici curiae of Americans for Prosperity Foundation, et al. filed. (Distributed)
  6. Jan 11 2022
    Brief amicus curiae of Cato Institute filed. (Distributed)
  7. Jan 05 2022
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/21/2022.
  8. Dec 30 2021
    Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
  9. Dec 10 2021
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due January 14, 2022)