193793P.pdf   03/26/2021  United States  v.  Daniel Brown
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  19-3793
   U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota - Aberdeen   
   [PUBLISHED] [Shepherd, Author, with Stras and Kobes, Circuit Judges] 
   Criminal case - Criminal law and sentencing. The evidence was sufficient 
   to establish that defendant was the driver of the vehicle involved in the 
   one-car accident that killed one of his passengers; as to defendant's 
   contention that if the government did prove he was the driver it failed to 
   prove he acted with wanton or reckless disregard for human life, the 
   government showed defendant was highly intoxicated and that, alone, is 
   sufficient for a jury to find defendant drove in a grossly negligent 
   manner; other facts surrounding the accident also showed defendant drove 
   in a grossly negligent manner, and the district court did not err in 
   denying his motion for a judgment of acquittal; the district court did not 
   err in imposing an upward departure based on under-represented criminal 
   history; the court's decision to reject defendant's plea for leniency 
   based on this record was not a procedural error, much less a plain error; 
   the district court provided a more than adequate explanation of its 
   sentencing decision, and considered the 3553(a) factors; the sentence was 
   not substantively unreasonable.