Willard

MEMORANDUM **

Dorothy Marie Willard (“Willard”) appeals her sentence of 71 months imprisonment for attempting to intimidate a witness, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512 (b)(1). Willard attempted to dissuade her daughter Hannah from testifying against Willard’s husband and Hannah’s father, Clifford Willard (“Clifford”), who had sexually molested Hannah since she was five years old and had served time in California for the molestation. Clifford faced a federal trial on charges that he transported Hannah over state lines to sexually assault her.

Upon Willard’s first appeal after her conviction by a jury, we vacated her sentence and remanded for re-sentencing. United States v. Willard, 230 F.3d 1093, 1095 (9th Cir.2000). Willard now claims the sentence imposed on remand is cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment.

“A punishment within legislatively mandated guidelines is presumptively valid. Generally, so long as the sentence imposed does not exceed the statutory maximum, it will not be overturned on eighth amendment grounds.” United States v. Mejia-Mesa, 153 F.3d 925, 930 (9th Cir.1998) (citations and quotations omitted). “[A] sentence within the limits set…