Oba

United States v. Oba

Good Law
317 F. App'x 698
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitMarch 9, 2009No. 07-30192California900 words

Opinion

Lead Opinion

MEMORANDUM *

Richard Oba ' (“Oba”) appeals his 72-month sentence for three counts of Seaman’s Manslaughter in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1115 . Oba argues that he did not act recklessly, and that his sentence is unreasonable in light of sentences imposed in similar cases. The parties are familiar with the facts of the case, which we repeat here only to the extent necessary to explain our decision. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , affirm in part, vacate Oba’s sentence, and remand.

We review the district court’s factual findings for clear error. United States v. Kimbrew, 406 F.3d 1149, 1151 (9th Cir.2005) (citation omitted). We review the reasonableness of a sentence under an abuse of discretion standard. Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38 , -, 128 S.Ct. 586, 591 , 169 L.Ed.2d 445 (2007); United States v. Carty, 520 F.3d 984, 993 (9th Cir.2008) (en banc). We affirm the district court’s finding that Oba acted recklessly, but vacate Oba’s sentence because the district court failed to properly address Oba’s reasonableness argument or explain its major upward departure from the Sentencing Guidelines.

“ ‘Reckless’ means a situation in which the defendant was aware of the…

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