Myron Gerald Stevens v. United States
1. Did the trial court impose a procedurally unreasonable sentence of life imprisonment upon conviction of a first offense, where it applied an incorrect legal standard which required "significant factors" to deny Stevens' request for a downward variance from the advisory guidelines, and the court failed to recognize it's discretion to vary from the guidelines based upon a disagreement with the sentencing guidelines?
2. Did the trial court unreasonably impose a life sentence where it unreasonably balanced the sentencing factors by giving undue weight to the recommended sentence and too little weight to circumstances of the offense, proportionality, and mitigation factors?
Did the trial court impose a procedurally unreasonable sentence of life imprisonment upon conviction of a first offense, where it applied an incorrect legal standard which required 'significant factors' to deny Stevens' request for a downward variance from the advisory guidelines, and the court failed to recognize it's discretion to vary from the guidelines based upon a disagreement with the sentencing guidelines?