Fourth Circuit Vacates Sentence Due to Rogers Error

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated a defendant's sentence and remanded for resentencing after finding the district court committed plain error under United States v. Rogers by imposing a more restrictive supervised release condition in the written judgment than was orally pronounced at sentencing.

Why it matters

The Fourth Circuit's decision reinforces the requirement under Rogers that all non-mandatory conditions of supervised release must be orally announced at sentencing. Discrepancies between the oral pronouncement and written judgment can result in the sentence being vacated, as the court found the error here affected the defendant's substantial rights and the fairness of the proceedings.

The details

The defendant pleaded guilty to drug and firearm offenses. At sentencing, the district court orally stated the defendant should participate in mental health treatment only if he believed it would be helpful. However, the written judgment required the defendant to participate in mental health treatment at the direction of the probation office, a more restrictive condition. The Fourth Circuit found this discrepancy to be material and amount to plain Rogers error, as there was a reasonable probability the defendant would have been subject to a less onerous condition absent the error.

• The defendant was originally sentenced, and the Fourth Circuit twice vacated and remanded the sentence based on Rogers errors.
• On the most recent remand, the district court again imposed a sentence, which the defendant appealed.

What’s next

The case will be remanded to the district court for full resentencing.