United States v. Leon G. Merculieff

983 F.2d 1079 NOTICE: Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3 provides that dispositions other than opinions or orders designated for publication are not precedential and should not be cited except when relevant under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel. UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Leon G. MERCULIEFF, Defendant-Appellant. No. 92-30147. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Submitted Dec. 9, 1992. * Decided Dec. 14, 1992. Before TANG, PREGERSON and T.G. NELSON, Circuit Judges. 1 MEMORANDUM ** 2 Leon Merculieff appeals his sentence, imposed under the United States Sentencing Guidelines ("Guidelines"), following his conviction by guilty plea for second degree murder in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1111 and 1153. Merculieff claims the district court erred by departing upward from the Guidelines range for "extreme conduct" and "more than minimal planning." We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and we affirm. 3 We recently articulated a three-part test for evaluating a district court's decision to depart from the presumptively applicable Guidelines range. United States v. Lira-Barazza, 941 F.2d 745, 746-47 (9th Cir.1991)…