In United States v. Anderson, 67 M.J. 703 (A.F. Ct. Crim. App. 2009), the issue was if there was a sentencing disparity between the sentences of the Appellant and his co-actor? The Court ruled that there was no sentence disparity. The Court applied the three step process from United States v. Lacy, 50 M.J. 286, 288 (C.A.A.F. 1999), to analyze any potential sentence disparity. First, the Court found that the two cases were “closely related” as both individuals were charged with crimes concerned with shooting the same victim, and both individuals were convicted of obstructing justice. Next, the AFCCA looked to determine whether the sentences were “highly disparate.” After reviewing other cases on sentence disparity, the AFCCA said that adjudged sentences should be compared. In this case, there was no disparity. In fact, the co-actor’s adjudged sentence of seventeen years was greater than the Appellant’s fifteen-year sentence. Even though the analysis should have been complete at this point, the AFCCA, “assum[ed] for the sake of analysis” that approved sentences must be compared. The Court did not find disparity in the five-year difference between the approved sentences. One factor the Court used in this analysis was the difference between the authorized maximum punishment and the actual punishment received for each co-actor. Finally, despite observing no disparity in both the adjudged and approved sentences, the AFCCA found it necessary to still use the third step of the Lacy analysis. The Court looked to see if there was a “reasonable basis” for any disparity. The AFCCA concluded “a rational, if not compelling” basis for any disparity; the Appellant “shot someone, A1C FN did not.” The AFCCA also considered that the Appellant’s plea was to “unintentionally shooting” the victim, not to the greater offense he was convicted of, and that A1C FN pled guilty to the charged offenses and cooperated with the government.
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