Some smaller circuit Booker dispositions

As I predicted here, we did get some late Friday Booker action from the circuit courts.  But none of the Booker rulings coming on-line from last night (or the previous day) seem all that consequential, and thus I will do just a very quick summary of rulings from the Second, Third, Ninth and Tenth Circuits:

From the Second Circuit, we get (unpublished) Booker-related dispositions in US v. Alexander, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 2905 (2d Cir. Feb. 18, 2005) (affirming sentence apparently based on mandatory minimum and defendant's admission), US v. Mitchell, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 2907 (2d Cir. Feb. 18, 2005) (rejecting Booker claim in collateral habeas attack on sentence), and US v. Bostic, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 2921 (2d Cir. Feb. 18, 2005) (ordering remand on the basis of Booker and Crosby).

From the Third Circuit, US v. Tyree, 2005 WL 375700 (3d Cir. Feb. 17, 2005), continues the court's pattern (previously noted here and here) of simply remanding Booker claims because, in the Third Circuit's view, they are "best determined by the District Court in the first instance."

From the Ninth Circuit, in both US v. Moreno-Hernandez, 2005 WL 387608 (9th Cir. Feb. 18, 2005), and US v. Alarid, 2005 WL 375728 (9th Cir. Feb. 17, 2005), the court remands for resentencing on the basis of Booker, although Moreno-Hernandez begins with an intricate and complicated discussion over "whether a federal defendant's previous state-law conviction is for a 'felony that is ... a crime of violence' under USSG 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii)."

From the Tenth Circuit, in US v Briceno-Rosado, 2005 WL 388727 (10th Cir. Feb. 18, 2005), the court applies its important ruling in Labastida-Segura (discussed here) to order a remand for resentencing even through the defendant's case involved no Sixth Amendment violation because the court could not conclude that the application of mandatory guidelines to Briceno-Rosado was harmless.

If I have missed some nuances in these cases or other recent circuit disposition, readers are highly encouraged to use the comments to fill out the Booker circuit story.