Delaware Doctor Wins New Sentence Based on Extrapolated Proof

Prosecutors can’t depend on an unreliable extrapolation from a statistically invalid sample of prescriptions to prove drug quantity for purposes of sentencing, a federal appeals court said, vacating a Delaware doctor’s 20-year prison term.

Prosecutors can rely on extrapolation to prove drug quantity, but the sentencing court must find an “adequate basis in fact for the extrapolation” and that the “quantity was determined in a manner consistent with accepted standards of reliability,” the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit said.

In this case, the evidence didn’t support a reliable extrapolation, said Judge Stephanos Bibas.

Patrick Titus was convicted ...