Has hell frozen over?

So you thought that it was impossible to have a ruling from the bench of the Sixth Circuit in favor of a defendant? Not so! On August 9, 2005, in the case of U.S.A. v. Samuel Brinson, No. 04-6052, the Court ruled from the bench that the case should be remanded for re-sentencing, contrary to the position of the government. Even though there is not yet an order, the stunned assistant defender thinks that the Sixth Circuit was saying that unless the district court makes a clear statement on the record that it would have imposed the same sentence, then a remand is appropriate. And, we know from yesterday's post that saying just those few magic words is all that it takes.