Cite as: 503 U. S. 193 (1992)
Opinion of the Court
propriate sentence from within the guideline range and the decision to depart from that range are left solely to the sentencing court. Thus, when only some of the district court's reasons for departure are invalid, an appellate court may not affirm a sentence on the ground that the district court could have based its departure on the remaining factors, since the district court, once apprised of the errors in its interpretation of the Guidelines, may have chosen a different sentence. Pp. 204-205. 2. This Court declines to review the Court of Appeals' determination regarding the reliability of Williams' outdated convictions, because the propriety of the District Court's consideration of nonsimilar outdated convictions was not clearly presented in the petition for certiorari and was not briefed by either party. Pp. 205-206. 3. The case is remanded for a determination whether the sentence was imposed "as a result of" the District Court's erroneous consideration of Williams' prior arrests, since it cannot be ascertained whether the Court of Appeals concluded that the District Court would have imposed the same sentence even without relying upon Williams' prior arrest record or whether it affirmed simply on the basis that the sentence was reasonable under § 3742(f)(2). P. 206.
910 F. 2d 1574, vacated and remanded.
O'Connor, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Rehnquist, C. J., and Blackmun, Stevens, Scalia, Souter, and Thomas, JJ., joined. White, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Kennedy, J., joined, post, p. 207.
Kenneth H. Hanson, by appointment of the Court, 499 U. S. 973, argued the cause and filed briefs for petitioner. Amy L. Wax argued the cause for the United States.
With her on the brief were Solicitor General Starr, Assistant Attorney General Mueller, Deputy Solicitor General Bryson, and Kathleen A. Felton.
Justice O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.
The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 (Act), as amended, 18 U. S. C. § 3551 et seq., 28 U. S. C. §§ 991-998, created the United States Sentencing Commission and empowered it to promulgate guidelines establishing sentencing ranges for different categories of federal offenses and defendants. The
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