We filed an amicus brief in January 2013, together with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the National Association of Federal Defenders, in this D.C. Circuit appeal of three criminal convictions in which the trial judge relied on conduct as to which the jury had acquitted the defendants to enhance their sentences for the crime for which they had been convicted. This practice is permitted under existing case law, which we hope to change. Our brief argued that the practice violates the Sixth Amendment right to trial by jury.
In March 2014, the court rejected that argument, noting that its ruling was in accord with the decisions of the other federal circuits.
