United States v. Threatt
Split Score
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Case Summary
Disposition
Vacated
The Tenth Circuit vacated De’Angelo Threatt’s 180-month sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm because the district court failed to comply with Rule 32(i)(1)(A) after Threatt said his lawyer never reviewed the PSR with him. Rejecting the Sixth Circuit’s contrary approach, the court held that such an allocution statement preserves the issue, found the error not harmless, and remanded for resentencing.
Circuit Split Identified
Legal Issue
Whether a defendant preserves a Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32(i)(1)(A) objection merely by stating during allocution that counsel did not review the presentence investigation report with him, thereby triggering harmless-error review, or whether a separate, formal objection is required, triggering plain-error review on appeal.
Circuit Positions
Allocution statement alone is NOT enough; defendant must lodge a formal objection—apply plain-error review.
Defendant’s allocution statement that counsel did not review the PSR is sufficient to preserve the Rule 32(i)(1)(A) issue—apply harmless-error review.
Conflict Summary
The Sixth Circuit holds that a defendant must make a formal objection to the court’s decision to proceed with sentencing; a mere statement during allocution that the PSR was not reviewed is insufficient, so plain-error review applies. The First, Third, Seventh, Ninth, and now the Tenth Circuits conclude that the allocution statement itself brings the claimed error to the court’s attention and therefore preserves the issue, requiring only harmless-error review.