3rd Cir Continues Remands Under Booker

Continuing its broad approach to remands for resentencing in light of Booker, the 3rd Circuit in yet another not-precedential opinion, remanded for resentencing in a case involving a defendant sentenced at the bottom of his guideline range as a career offender -- US v. Mitchell (No. 03-3862, 3/11/05). This remand is a striking demonstration of just how broad the 3rd Circuit's approach is, since appellate counsel had filed a no-merit brief under Anders, but defendant in an informal pro se brief raised the Booker issue himself. The Court found that counsel had fulfilled all the requirements of Anders (and thus implicitly found that there were no meritorious issues for counsel to raise on appeal) but then remanded for resentencing stating only the following:

Mitchell challenges his sentence on the basis of United States v. Booker. . . Having determined that the sentencing issues appellant raises are best determined by the District Court in the first instance, we will vacate the sentence and remand for re-sentencing in accordance with Booker.