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90-5358.S
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Subject: BRAXTON v. U.S., Syllabus
NOTE: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as
is being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is
issued. The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but
has been prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the
reader. See United States v. Detroit Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337.
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
Syllabus
BRAXTON v. UNITED STATES
certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the fourth circuit
No. 90-5358. Argued March 18, 1991 -- Decided May 28, 1991
At a hearing at which petitioner Braxton pleaded guilty to assault and
firearm counts, but not guilty to the more serious charge of attempting to
kill a United States marshal, the Government presented facts -- to which
Braxton agreed -- showing, inter alia, that, after each of two instances in
which marshals kicked open his door, Braxton fired a gunshot "through the
door opening," and the shots lodged in the door's front. Over Brax ton's
objections, the District Court later sentenced him as though he had been
convicted of the attempt to kill count, relying on a proviso in MDRV
1B1.2(a) of the U. S. Sentencing Comm'n Guidelines Manual. Although MDRV
1B1.2(a) ordinarily requires a court to apply the Sentencing Guideline most
applicable to the offense of conviction, the proviso allows the court, in
the case of conviction by a guilty plea "containing a stipulation" that
"specifically establishes" a more serious offense, to apply the Guideline
most applicable to the stipulated offense. The Court of Appeals upheld
Braxton's sentence.
Held: The court below misapplied the MDRV 1B1.2(a) proviso. Pp. 3-7.
(a) This Court will not resolve the question whether Braxton's guilty
plea "contain[ed] a stipulation" within the proviso's meaning. The
Commission -- which was specifically charged by Congress with the duty to
review and revise the Guidelines and given the unusual explicit power to
decide whether and to what extent its amendments reducing sentences would
be given retroactive effect -- has already undertaken a proceeding that
will eliminate a conflict among the Federal Circuits over the precise
question at issue here. Moreover, the specific controversy before the
Court can be decided on other grounds. Pp. 3-5.
(b) Assuming that Braxton's agreement to the Government's facts
constituted a "stipulation," that stipulation does not "specifically
establis[h]" an attempt to kill, as is required by the proviso. At best,
the stipulation supports two reasonable readings -- one that Braxton shot
across the room at the marshals when they entered, and one that he shot
before they entered to frighten them off. There is nothing in the latter
reading from which an intent to kill -- a necessary element of the attempt
to kill count -- could even be inferred. Pp. 5-7.
903 F. 2d 292, reversed and remanded.
Scalia, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.
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