United States v. Rising Sun

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,  No. 06-30614 Plaintiff-Appellee, v.  D.C. No.

CR-05-00061-RFC

EUGENE RAYMOND RISING SUN,

OPINION

Defendant-Appellant.  Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Montana Richard F. Cebull, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted September 26, 2007—Seattle, Washington

Filed April 14, 2008

Before: Betty B. Fletcher, Andrew J. Kleinfeld, and Ronald M. Gould, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Gould COUNSEL

Mark S. Werner, at argument, & Anthony R. Gallagher, on the briefs, Federal Defenders of Montana, Billings, Montana, for appellant Eugene Rising Sun.

Corey Endo, at argument, and William W. Mercer & Lori Harper Suek, on the briefs, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Billings, Montana, for appellee United States. 3870 UNITED STATES v. RISING SUN

OPINION

GOULD, Circuit Judge:

Eugene Rising Sun (“Rising Sun”) appeals two consecutive life sentences which were imposed after he pled guilty to two counts of second-degree murder. He argues that the sentenc- ing court erred in applying…