Correspondent
Capitol Hill correspondent, covers legislative and political stories.
The Fourth Circuit denied Meldamion Antoine Huguley's petition for a writ of mandamus seeking to vacate his federal firearms conviction. The court held that mandamus is an extraordinary remedy unavailable when adequate appellate or collateral review channels exist, particularly after the underlying § 2255 motion was dismissed as unauthorized and successive.
The Fifth Circuit dismissed Olamide Olatayo Bello's appeal as moot because he is no longer confined at the Fannin County Detention Center. Consequently, the court lacks jurisdiction to grant the requested relief and denied his motion to proceed in forma pauperis.
The Ninth Circuit reversed the dismissal of a qui tam action alleging drug manufacturers violated the False Claims Act by inflating prices under the Section 340B Program. The court held that while the Supreme Court barred direct private suits to enforce Section 340B, the False Claims Act provides an independent cause of action for fraud against the government that is not precluded by that limitation.
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed Brian David Hill's appeal from the denial of his federal habeas corpus motion because he failed to obtain a certificate of appealability. The court found that Hill did not make a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right as required by statute.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed the conviction and sentence of a defendant for illegal reentry, rejecting his first-time constitutional challenge to the recidivism enhancement. The court held that the argument is foreclosed by the Supreme Court's decision in Almendarez-Torres v. United States.
The First Circuit affirmed Mark Anthony Figueroa's money laundering conspiracy conviction, ruling that the district court's admission of a cooperating witness's kidnapping testimony and law enforcement overview testimony did not constitute reversible error. The court held that any evidentiary mistakes were harmless given the overwhelming independent evidence linking the defendant to drug trafficking proceeds.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of a Federal Tort Claims Act lawsuit against the United States, finding no reversible error in the lower court's ruling. The appellate court explicitly declined to review claims regarding failure to treat or challenges to state medical liability statutes because the appellant failed to preserve these issues for appeal.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed Gabriel Hawthorne's conviction and sentence for conspiring to distribute fentanyl, finding the evidence sufficient to support the verdict. The court also rejected Hawthorne's motion for a new trial and found no error in the district court's sentencing explanation.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed Duane Dixon's convictions for conspiracy and wire fraud, ruling that his challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence was waived because he failed to renew his motion for a judgment of acquittal after presenting evidence at trial. The court also upheld the district court's application of a sentencing enhancement for obstruction of justice, finding the lower court's reasoning sufficient to support the increase.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed a 60-month prison sentence for a defendant convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, rejecting claims that the district court erred in denying a mitigating role reduction. The court further held that the within-guidelines sentence was substantively reasonable and that general arguments regarding deterrence or historical disparities were insufficient to warrant reversal.
