171572P.pdf   06/20/2018  United States  v.  Thomas Grace
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  17-1572
   U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota - Bismarck   
   [PUBLISHED] [Shepherd, Author, with Colloton and Stras, Circuit Judges] 
   Criminal case - Sentencing. In defendant's sentencing for involuntary 
   manslaughter, the district court determined that the Guidelines did not 
   fully account for defendant's prior DUI conviction which had occurred just 
   four months before this fatal accident and under very similar 
   circumstances; given that defendant's behavior showed a lack of respect 
   for the law and the safety of others and that a significant sentence was 
   needed to afford adequate deterrence, the court's decision to weigh the 
   prior conviction and impose an upward variance was not an abuse of 
   discretion or a clear error of judgment; contrary to defendant's argument, 
   the court did not give significant weight to the term of imprisonment 
   provided in the comparable state law - N.D. Cent. Code Sec. 39-08-01.2(1) 
   - and, instead, relied on the relevant 3553(a) factors in setting 
   sentence; the sentence imposed was substantively reasonable.