Correspondent
Capitol Hill correspondent, covers legislative and political stories.
The Eleventh Circuit granted appointed counsel's motion to withdraw from representing the defendant in a direct criminal appeal. The court affirmed the conviction and sentence after an independent review found no arguable issues of merit.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the convictions and sentences of three defendants involved in a large-scale credit card fraud scheme. The court rejected challenges regarding evidence sufficiency, the reasonableness of sentences, and a sentencing enhancement for managerial roles.
The Eleventh Circuit summarily affirmed Tavio McNeary's conviction for felon-in-possession, rejecting his challenge to the sentencing enhancement based on a prior marijuana conviction. The court held that binding precedent requires applying state law to define a controlled substance offense, even when the substance is no longer controlled under federal law.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the conviction and sentence of Davey Green for distributing a controlled substance. The court granted appointed counsel's motion to withdraw after an independent review found no arguable issues of merit.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the denial of Leoncio Perez's motion for compassionate release, ruling that his advanced age and medical conditions did not constitute extraordinary and compelling reasons for sentence reduction. The court held that the district court properly weighed the sentencing factors under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) and found Perez's history and the nature of his offenses precluded leniency.
The Eleventh Circuit lacks jurisdiction to review a district court order remanding a foreclosure action to state court. The court granted the motion to dismiss the appeal regarding the remand order but will carry the issue of jurisdiction regarding the denial of reconsideration to the merits panel.
The D.C. Circuit affirmed the denial of Deenvaughn Rowe's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, ruling that he failed to prove prejudice under the Strickland standard. The court held that even if trial counsel had pursued additional witnesses or investigated further, the overwhelming evidence of Rowe's guilt would likely have resulted in the same conviction.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed Fei Xie's conviction and 120-month sentence, ruling that the district court properly admitted witness testimony and an organizational chart under the Federal Rules of Evidence. The court further held that Xie's role in financing and managing the drug trafficking organization justified the application of the organizer/leader sentencing enhancement.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit denied a certificate of appealability and dismissed an appeal filed by a state prisoner challenging the timeliness of his habeas petition. The court held that the petitioner's jurisdictional challenge was subject to the one-year statute of limitations under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed a 46-month prison sentence for illegal reentry after removal, rejecting arguments that a sentencing enhancement for a post-removal DUI was applied in error. The court held that the enhancement was proper under the Sentencing Guidelines and that the sentence was substantively reasonable given the defendant's history of impaired driving.
