People of Michigan v. Aaron Antwaun Robinson, 335193

Aaron Antwaun Robinson was convicted by jury of first-degree home invasion, safe breaking, larceny of a firearm, receiving and concealing a firearm, and felony-firearm; acquitted of murder, carjacking, and armed robbery.
Original sentences (2013) included substantial upward departures: e.g., home invasion 144–240 months (guidelines 57–95); safe breaking 140–360 months (guidelines 43–86).
On initial appeal this Court found sentencing justification inadequate as to the extent of the upward departures and remanded for the trial court to articulate proportionality reasons.
On remand the trial court explained it relied on factors not adequately accounted for by the guidelines: defendant’s leadership/plotting, manipulation of an elderly former neighbor victim, heinous post-offense conduct (bleaching body, delaying discovery), and defendant’s lack of remorse and postoffense behavior.
Defendant argued the departure sentences were disproportionate, that the court improperly punished lack of remorse and relied on acquitted offenses; the Court of Appeals affirmed the departure sentences as reasonable.

Issue	People’s Argument	Robinson’s Argument	Held
Whether upward departure sentences were reasonable/proportionate	Departure was reasonable given aggravating facts not adequately weighted by guidelines	Departure was disproportionate and unreasonable	Affirmed: departures were proportionate and within trial court discretion
Whether trial court improperly considered lack of remorse	Court permissibly considered defendant’s defiance and blame-shifting as aggravating conduct	Court impermissibly penalized defendant for refusing to admit guilt	Held: court considered lack of remorse and defiance in permissible way (not punished for mere denial of guilt)
Whether trial court relied on acquitted conduct to justify departure	Court may consider evidence presented at trial, even if acquitted, when sentencing	Using acquitted-offense findings to increase sentence is improper	Held: court considered trial evidence generally; no independent findings of guilt for acquitted charges were used to impose sentence
Whether OV14/leader score made consideration of leadership role improper	Guidelines gave insufficient weight to defendant’s significant planning/manipulation; departure appropriate to account for inadequate weight	Court double-counted factors already scored by guidelines	Held: trial court properly used factors given inadequate weight by OV14 to justify departure

People v Lockridge, 498 Mich 358 (2015) (review standard for guideline sequencing and reasonableness after advisory guidelines)
People v Steanhouse, 500 Mich 453 (2017) (standard for reviewing reasonableness of departure sentences)
People v Milbourn, 435 Mich 630 (1990) (principle of proportionality for sentencing)
People v Babcock, 469 Mich 247 (2003) (abuse of discretion defined as choosing outcomes outside principled range)
People v Compagnari, 233 Mich App 233 (1998) (trial court may consider evidence offered at trial, including acquitted conduct, when fashioning sentence)