Correspondent
Capitol Hill correspondent, covers legislative and political stories.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed a district court's decision to impose consecutive sentences for drug distribution, money laundering, and a supervised release violation. The court held that the district court did not plainly err in considering the seriousness of the violation conduct or in explaining its rationale for running the terms consecutively.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment, rejecting Demetrius Catching's appeal regarding his sentences for new federal drug distribution and money laundering offenses committed while on supervised release. The court found no error in the imposition of consecutive within-Guidelines sentences totaling 93 months for the new crimes and 55 months for the supervised release violation.
The Tenth Circuit enforced a defendant's appeal waiver because her 188-month sentence fell within the agreed-upon advisory guidelines range. The court concluded that opposing the government's motion to enforce the waiver would be frivolous under Anders v. California.
The Tenth Circuit enforced a defendant's appeal waiver contained in his plea agreement, dismissing his appeal as frivolous. The court found the waiver was valid and its enforcement would not result in a miscarriage of justice.
The Tenth Circuit held that the Governor of Colorado is not immune from suit regarding alleged violations of a prisoner's religious rights because state law grants him final authority over the Department of Corrections. The court further ruled that the prisoner's transfer to a new facility did not moot his claims for injunctive relief since the alleged unconstitutional conditions persist.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of Bani Moreno's habeas petition challenging his 2022 removal, holding that he was not 'in custody' within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 2241 because he remained outside the United States. The court concluded that a non-citizen residing abroad lacks the requisite custody status to invoke federal habeas jurisdiction for immigration removal proceedings.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed the denial of federal habeas relief, holding that the state court's finding that the petitioner would not have accepted a plea offer was not objectively unreasonable. The court ruled that the petitioner's steadfast claim of innocence throughout the proceedings rebutted his later testimony that he would have pleaded guilty if informed of the mandatory life sentence.
The Tenth Circuit denied Abdul Waris Akinsanya a certificate of appealability regarding his ineffective assistance of counsel claim. The court held that no reasonable jurist could debate the district court's factual finding that trial counsel adequately advised Akinsanya of the immigration consequences of his plea.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed Marco Atkins' convictions for assault and firearm offenses, ruling that any error in admitting a government agent's testimony about security footage did not affect the outcome of the trial. The court held that the evidence of guilt was so substantial that the jury would have convicted Atkins regardless of the agent's statements.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed Nelly Idowu's conviction and sentence, rejecting her claim that the district court misapplied sentencing guidelines for money laundering. The court held that because Idowu failed to object to the guideline calculation at sentencing, she could only succeed by showing plain error, which she could not establish.
