US v. Shonubi
| Decision Date | 04 August 1995 |
| Docket Number | No. CR 92-0007.,CR 92-0007. |
| Citation | 895 F. Supp. 460 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, v. Charles O. SHONUBI, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York |
COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED
Zachary W. Carter, United States Attorney, Eastern District of New York, Brooklyn, NY (Karen A. Popp, Assistant U.S. Attorney, of counsel), for U.S.
David G. Secular, New York City, for defendant.
AMENDED MEMORANDUM AND JUDGMENT
The defendant was caught entering the country with 427.4 grams of heroin in his digestive tract. It is believed that he made seven prior drug smuggling trips, but not how much he carried on those trips. The court is required, under the Sentencing Guidelines, to estimate the total quantity of heroin imported.
At the original sentence, the court multiplied 427.4 by eight, arriving at a total of 3419.2 grams. The sentence was 151 months in prison, the low end of the Guidelines range for importation of 3,000 grams of heroin or more. See United States v. Shonubi, 802 F.Supp. 859 (E.D.N.Y.1992) Shonubi I, conviction affirmed, sentence reversed, 998 F.2d 84 (2d Cir.1993) Shonubi II.
The court of appeals rejected this solution and remanded. On reconsideration, the trial court now concludes that the defendant should be sentenced for importing between 1,000 and 3,000 grams of heroin. For reasons indicated in Parts XIII, XIV, and XV, infra, the term of imprisonment is unchanged.
This memorandum is largely devoted to explaining how a sentencing judge — and a trier of fact generally — reaches a decision. The case presents an opportunity to observe, explain, and discuss forensic decision-making. The absence of exclusionary rules of evidence at sentencing, the availability of statistics against which to "check" non-statistical proof, and the assistance of skilled experts have permitted the court to examine the decision-making process more fully than circumstances usually permit.
It should come as no surprise that in addition to rational analysis, the forensic factfinder depends upon assumptions and methods of thinking that may introduce biases and errors. Articulating the assumptions used in this case may provide valuable...
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