Sentencing two-fer from the Tenth Circuit

I missed reporting on two intriguing sentencing decisions released yesterday by the Tenth Circuit.  Here are cites and each decision’s first paragraph:

• US v. Tom, No. 05-2347 (10th Cir. Aug. 1, 2007) (available here):

The United States appeals the sentence imposed by the district court on Defendant-Appellee Charlie Tom for the murder of his infant son.  It contends that the award of a Guidelines sentencing range reduction based on Tom’s acceptance of responsibility was inappropriate in light of Tom’s challenge to the factual element of intent in the case against him. It further contends that the district court’s decision to exercise its discretion under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) to vary by approximately 60% from the correct Guidelines sentencing range was unreasonable.  We agree with the Government’s first contention and decline to reach the second.

• US v. Ruiz-Rodriguez, No. 06-2184 (10th Cir. Aug. 1, 2007) (available here):

In 2005, Defendant-Appellant Jose Ruiz-Rodriguez was charged with and pled guilty to unlawful reentry after deportation subsequent to a conviction for commission of an aggravated felony, see 8 U.S.C. § 1326(a) and (b), and was sentenced to 41 months of imprisonment. He now appeals his sentence, specifically the portion based on his prior conviction for a crime of violence, arguing that the elements of the prior crime at issue do not meet the relevant Sentencing Guidelines’ definition of a crime of violence. We agree.