United States v. Donald W. Petersen

103 F.3d 143 NOTICE: Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3 provides that dispositions other than opinions or orders designated for publication are not precedential and should not be cited except when relevant under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel.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. Donald W. PETERSEN, Defendant-Appellant. No. 96-30022. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Sept. 17, 1996. * Decided Nov. 18, 1996. Before: WRIGHT, SCHROEDER and KLEINFELD, Circuit Judges. 1 MEMORANDUM ** 2 The issue is whether the district court may consider loss of good time credits and an alleged delay in prosecution by the government as bases for a downward departure from the Sentencing Guidelines. BACKGROUND: 3 While serving a 75-month sentence for assault, Petersen sent a barrage of threatening letters to two of his former professors at Washington State University. One of the two was the victim of the assault. The state Department of Corrections sanctioned Petersen with a total loss of 360 days good time credits. One month before his scheduled release the federal government charged him with two counts of mailing threatening…