No. 16-9493October Term 2017Decided Jun 18, 2018
Rosales-Mireles v. United States
Florencio Rosales-Mireles pleaded guilty to illegal reentry, but his sentencing range was miscalculated due to an error in his criminal history score.
Case status
- Current stage
- Decided
- Latest event
- Decision released Jun 18, 2018
- What it's about
Florencio Rosales-Mireles pleaded guilty to illegal reentry, but his sentencing range was miscalculated due to an error in his criminal history score. The Supreme Court ruled that such a plain error affecting a defendant's substantial rights generally requires an appeals court to vacate the sentence, rejecting the lower court's overly restrictive standard.
Question presented
Whether the Fifth Circuit’s standard for finding “plain error” under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 52(b) when a defendant is sentenced under an incorrectly calculated Guidelines range—that the error must “shock the conscience”—conflicts with this Court’s decision in Molina-Martinez v. United States, 136 S. Ct. 1338 (2016).
- Case path
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit / Decision released Jun 18, 2018
- Area
Criminal Procedure
Timing
Decided June 18, 2018
The Court released its decision on June 18, 2018 without hearing oral argument.
Related cases
Grounding
- Grounding
- Primary-source trail available.
- Note
- Plain-English explainer. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.
- Checked
- May 31, 2026
- Method
- Methodology