Correspondent
Capitol Hill correspondent, covers legislative and political stories.
The Fifth Circuit vacated a supervised release condition that required a defendant to reside in a reentry center for up to one hundred twenty days. The court held that the written judgment conflicted with the oral sentencing pronouncement, which had limited that requirement to situations where the defendant lacked suitable housing.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the denial of an emergency motion for compassionate release. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in weighing the nature of the offense and the defendant's criminal history against the request for sentence reduction.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a motion by the Federal Public Defender to withdraw from representing the defendant. The court dismissed the appeal after finding no nonfrivolous issues for appellate review.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of a motion for a new trial filed by a criminal defendant. The appellate court held that the motion was untimely under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure thirty-three.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed the denial of a federal prisoner's motion to reduce his sentence under the Sentencing Guidelines. The court held that the defendant was ineligible for a reduction because the district court did not base the original sentence on the amended guidelines range.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed one defendant's sentence while vacating and remanding another's in a consolidated appeal involving unemployment fraud. The court found sufficient evidence for a sophisticated-means enhancement against the leader of the scheme but not against her codefendant.
The Eleventh Circuit dismissed an appeal regarding a sentence reduction motion because the underlying issue became moot. The district court had already granted the government's motion to reduce the defendant's sentence after the appeal was filed.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a district court order denying pretrial release to a defendant charged with assaulting a federal officer. The appellate court found the evidence supported the lower court's conclusion that the defendant posed a substantial risk of flight.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the conviction of a convicted felon for possessing a firearm. The court held that binding precedent confirms the constitutionality of the federal statute under the Second Amendment.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of a motion for compassionate release. The appellate court found no abuse of discretion in the lower court's determination that the defendant failed to demonstrate extraordinary and compelling reasons for early release.
