United States v. Burns

Defendant pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and subsequently appealed his sentence. The district court found that defendant used the firearm in an attempted murder, but defendant disputed that he had the requisite mens rea for attempted murder. Consequently, the district court denied defendant a downward adjustment for acceptance of responsibility pursuant to U.S.S.G. 3E1.1. In this case, when defendant denied that his "acts and omissions" included shooting with the intent to kill, he denied relevant conduct attributable to him. Because falsely denying relevant conduct is "inconsistent with acceptance of responsibility," the district court did not err by denying defendant a three-level reduction. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "United States v. Burns" on Justia Law