United States v. Figueroa-Coello

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The Fifth Circuit reversed defendant's sentence and held that the district court plainly erred by denying defendant a chance to speak at his sentencing hearing. The court held that the right of allocution exists because counsel may not be able to provide the same quantity or quality of mitigating evidence as the defendant in sentencing. In this case, defendant's intended allocution was markedly different than his counsel's statements to the court and could have lessened his sentence. Therefore, the court exercised its discretion to remand the case. View "United States v. Figueroa-Coello" on Justia Law