United States v. Axline, No. 23-5141 (6th Cir. 2024)
Annotate this CaseIn the case before the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, the defendant, Bryce Axline, appealed the 65-month sentence imposed by the district court following his guilty plea to charges of vehicular homicide and vehicular assault on federal lands. Axline argued that the district court imposed a substantively unreasonable sentence by failing to provide sufficiently compelling reasons for varying upward from the Sentencing Guidelines advisory range by approximately 40 percent. The Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's decision, concluding that the sentence was substantively reasonable. The court found that the district court thoroughly assessed the seriousness of Axline's offense, his history with underage substance abuse, and the importance of specific and general deterrence. The court also found that the circumstances of this case fell outside the heartland of similar cases. The court noted that the Guidelines did not necessarily account for the confluence of his underage drinking and extremely reckless driving, nor did they necessarily adequately account for the effect of Axline's actions on multiple victims. Thus, the district court acted within its discretion in varying Axline's sentence above the Guidelines range.
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