Jan. 6 rioter who assaulted cops with metal whip has sentencing go haywire after judge wants to add enhancement
Source: Law & Crime
Apr 25th, 2024, 6:52 pm
A sentencing hearing broke down this week over a disagreement about a sentencing enhancement for a self-employed handyman from Texas who admitted to using a metal whip and unloading a can of bear spray on officers during the riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
The hearing for Andrew Quentin Taake, 35, was delayed when his lawyer disputed the judge adding an enhancement to his client’s punishment for inflicting bodily injury on an officer based on an officer’s testimony he was injured by bear spray. The new enhancement would bring Taake’s sentencing range to between 87 and 108 months — or seven and nine years. That’s more than the 78 months — or 6.5 years — that prosecutors sought and was not in the plea agreement which listed the guidelines at between 46 and 57 months.
Washington CBS affiliate WUSA reported that Taake’s lawyer, Michael Lawlor, said that in his 27 years as an attorney, he had never heard of a judge applying guidelines that differed from what was spelled out, Washington CBS affiliate WUSA reported. “I can count on one hand — not even one hand — the number of times a judge has come in and said, ‘I’m going to apply a different guidelines calculation and this is the first time you’re hearing about it,'” Lawlor said, the outlet reported. “This is the only time it has happened.”
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Donald Trump appointee, said the enhancement should apply in this case, according to the outlet. “Based on the government’s brief and the victim impact statement it’s as clear as day to me that the sentencing enhancement applies here,” Nichols said, WUSA reported.
Read more: https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/i-am-not-comfortable-winging-this-jan-6-rioter-who-assaulted-cops-with-metal-whip-has-sentencing-go-haywire-after-judge-wants-to-add-enhancement-not-in-plea-agreement/
Full headline: ‘I am not comfortable winging this’: Jan. 6 rioter who assaulted cops with metal whip has sentencing go haywire after judge wants to add enhancement not in plea agreement
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