The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment revoking supervised release and imposing imprisonment. The court rejected the appellant's constitutional challenge to the relevant statute as foreclosed by prior precedent.
Omar Villarreal appealed a district court judgment that revoked his term of supervised release and imposed seven months of imprisonment plus an additional term of supervised release. For the first time on appeal, he argued that the statute governing supervised release revocation is unconstitutional under the Supreme Court’s decision in United States versus Haymond.
The court’s reasoning
The court noted that the appellant’s position is foreclosed by the Fifth Circuit’s prior decision in United States versus Garner. Because the legal argument was already settled, the court determined that a summary affirmance was proper.
What it means going forward
The judgment revoking supervised release and imposing a seven-month prison term stands, and the appellant’s constitutional challenge is dismissed without further analysis.
