United States v. Marris – Do It For The Caselaw

Holding: The court granted the motion to withdraw counsel and dismissed the appeal because the defendant had no nonfrivolous grounds to challenge the reasonableness of his sentence.
Standard: abuse of discretion
Vote: Unanimous panel decision dismissing the appeal upon counsel's Anders motion.
Practical effect: The dismissal of the appeal leaves the seventeen-year prison sentence in place, reinforcing the district court's authority to impose significant upward variances in cases involving severe violence and extensive criminal history.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit dismissed an appeal challenging a seventeen-year prison sentence for discharging a firearm during a violent crime. Appointed counsel filed an Anders brief asserting the appeal was wholly frivolous, and the panel agreed after reviewing the record.

Background

Defendant Nezjoneil Marris, an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation, shot a victim named L.F. at close range, rendering her a paraplegic with extensive physical and financial injuries. Marris pleaded guilty to one count of discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence under Section nineteen hundred eighty-three of Title eighteen of the United States Code. The advisory guidelines sentence was ten years, but the government moved for an upward variance, and the district court sentenced Marris to seventeen years.

The court’s reasoning

The panel conducted a full examination of the record and agreed with appointed counsel that no nonfrivolous basis for appeal existed. The court found the district court did not abuse its discretion in weighing the Section three thousand five hundred fifty-three factors, noting the court adequately explained the need for a sentence above the mandatory minimum given the victim’s suffering and the defendant’s history.

What it means going forward

The dismissal of the appeal leaves the seventeen-year prison sentence in place, reinforcing the district court’s authority to impose significant upward variances in cases involving severe violence and extensive criminal history.