Tobacco.org

Appeals court to rehear cigarette-smuggling case 

Confusion over a U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down Washington state's sentencing guidelines prompted the Richmond-based federal appeals court to schedule a rare August hearing on the ruling's impact in the five states it covers.

The hearing involves the case of a man convicted of helping terrorists via a North Carolina cigarette-smuggling ring.

The Supreme Court ruled in June that juries, not judges, must consider aggravating factors that can lengthen a defendant's sentence. Those factors must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt -- the same high standard used to determine guilt or innocence.

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