061103P.pdf   04/29/2011  United States  v.  Ruth Kane
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  06-1103
   U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri - St. Louis   
   EMERGENCY OPINION ISSUED - 5:00 P.M. 
   [PUBLISHED] [Riley, Chief Judge, Author, with Hansen and Murphy, 
   Circuit Judges] 
   Criminal Case - sentence.  On remand from Supreme Court to consider case in 
   light of Pepper v. United States, the district court's findings that 
   defendant posed a low risk of recidivism and her crimes were based on past 
   substance abuse and mental health issues  and because of influence by 
   Champion are still clearly erroneous and thus district court committed 
   procedural error by basing sentence on unsupported determination. Reliance on 
   postsentence rehabilitation no longer an error, but district court's failure 
   to support degree of variance with sufficient justification holds.  Sentence 
   is not substantially reasonable and case is remanded for resentencing. 
   Judge Murphy dissents. 
  
061103P.pdf   01/14/2009  United States  v.  Ruth Kane
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  06-1103
   U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri - St. Louis   
   [PUBLISHED] [Riley, Author, with Murphy and Hansen, Circuit Judges]
   Criminal case - Sentencing. For the court's prior opinions in the case,
   see U.S. v. Kane, 148 F.Appx. 565 (8th Cir. 2005) and U.S. v. Kane, 470
   F.3d 1277 (8th Cir. 2006). On remand from the Supreme Court for further
   consideration in light of Gall. The district court procedurally erred by
   basing defendant's unusually lenient sentence, in significant part, on 
   its unsupported determination that defendant posed a low likelihood of
   recidivism; similarly, Gall has no effect on the validity of the court's
   prior determinations that there was no evidence in the record to support
   the district court's determination that the crimes were linked to
   defendant's past substance abuse and mental health issues or that she
   was under the influence of the person perpetrating the sexual assaults;
   district court erred in considering defendant's post-sentence
   rehabilitation in granting the downward variance; record was sufficient
   to show the district court considered the seriousness of the offenses
   in setting sentence, and the government's argument to the contrary is
   rejected; the district court committed procedural error by failing to
   adequately explain the chosen sentence and by failing to support the
   degree of variance with sufficient justifications; in light of the
   procedural errors in sentencing, the court would not reach the
   government's argument that the sentence was substantively unreasonable.
  
061103P.pdf   12/18/2006  United States  v.  Ruth Kane
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  06-1103
   U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri - St. Louis   
   [PUBLISHED] [Riley, Author, with Murphy and Hansen, Circuit Judges]
   Criminal case - Sentencing. For further information about the case,
   see U.S. v. Kane, 148 F.App'x 565 (2005). On remand, the district
   court erred in imposing a 120 month for aggravated sexual abuse of
   a minor; the district court did not properly evaluate the factors of
   the seriousness of the offense and defendants' characteristics and
   history, including her rehabilitative efforts; the court also erred
   in determining that defendant would not commit future offenses and
   that her prior substance abuse and mental or emotional condition
   warranted a downward variance; the sentence also led to a sentencing
   disparity between defendant and her co-defendant. Case remanded for
   resentencing.