032871P.pdf   04/29/2005  USA  v.  Louis F. Pirani
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  03-2871
   Eastern District of Arkansas   
   [PUBLISHED] [Opinion of the Court En Banc. Loken, Chief Judge, Author]
   Criminal case - criminal law.  Applying Booker to a sentencing error
   which defendant failed to preserve in the district court, the court en banc
   follows the decisions of the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Eleventh Circuits in
   holding that a remand for resentencing is not required unless the
   defendant meets his burden to demonstrate plain error prejudice under
   controlling Supreme Court precedents, that is, a "reasonable probability"
   that the district court would have imposed a more favorable sentence
   under the advisory guidelines regime mandated under Booker; as
   defendant failed to meet that burden, his sentence is affirmed; challenges
   to cross-examination of defense witness rejected; district court did not
   abuse its discretion in admitting a tape-recording.  Judge Heaney,
   dissenting. Judge Morris S. Arnold, with whom Judge Smith joins,
   dissenting. Judge Bye, concurring in part and dissenting in part.
  
032871P.pdf   08/05/2004  United States  v.  Louis F. Pirani
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  03-2871
   Eastern District of Arkansas   
   Criminal case - Criminal law and Guidelines. Challenges to questions
   posed during cross-examination of defendant's witness rejected;
   admission of tape-recording where defendant commented on the
   government's investigation was proper as it went to the issue of whether
   defendant knew he made a false statement which was material to an
   investigation; Blakely extends to the federal Sentencing Guidelines at
   least to the extent they require courts to impose punishment based on
   judicially found facts; under Blakely, the application of Guidelines
   Section 2F1.1 cross reference violated defendant's Sixth Amendment
   right to a jury trial and was plain error requiring a remand for
   resentencing. Dissent by Judge Smith.
   [Published] [Bye, Author, with Heaney and Smith, Circuit Judges]