The following excerpt is from U.S. v. Sablan, 90 F.3d 362 (9th Cir. 1996):
We conclude that, in this case, the district court abused its discretion by failing to establish the degree of the departure by analogy to other Guidelines provisions. Although the district court adequately explained its decision to depart upward because of the extensive injuries to the bystanders, it did not gauge the extent of its departure by reference to other Guidelines provisions. We have no way of knowing how the district court measured the degree of departure. See id. The district court's failure to analogize, and the unreasonableness of the resulting sixteen-level upward departure, require us to remand for resentencing. See United States v. Montenegro-Rojo, 908 F.2d 425, 431 (9th Cir.1990) (remanding for resentencing because the district court failed to explain by analogy its departure on the basis of inadequacy of criminal history category); cf. United States v. Todd, 909 F.2d 395, 398-99 (9th Cir.1990) (remanding because court failed to adequately explain degree of departure, although it had adequately explained its decision to depart).
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