Correspondent
Capitol Hill correspondent, covers legislative and political stories.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a motion by appointed counsel to withdraw from representing the defendant. The court dismissed the appeal after finding no nonfrivolous issues for review.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has issued an opinion in this case. Judgment has been entered in accordance with the court's decision.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed Marshall Grace's conviction for drug conspiracy, ruling that he failed to prove purposeful racial discrimination under Batson v. Kentucky. The court held that the district court's assessment of the prosecutor's credibility regarding a race-neutral reason for striking a juror was not clearly erroneous.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has issued an opinion in the case of United States v. Harold Kaeding. Judgment has been entered in accordance with the court's decision.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed Kimberly Kiehl's conviction and sentence, ruling that her prior failure to object to the magistrate judge's report waived her challenge to the voluntariness of her guilty plea. The court further held that the sentence appeal waiver was enforceable because the magistrate judge explicitly explained its scope during the plea colloquy.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a motion by appointed counsel to withdraw from representing the defendant. The court dismissed the appeal after finding no nonfrivolous issues for review.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of a pro se plaintiff's motion to amend his complaint, ruling that the proposed changes were futile. The court held that leniency for self-represented litigants does not require rewriting deficient pleadings to cure fatal legal defects.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a motion by appointed counsel to withdraw from representing the defendant. The court dismissed the appeal after finding that the assigned attorney properly followed Anders procedure and identified no nonfrivolous issues for review.
The Tenth Circuit dismissed this appeal as moot because the underlying criminal proceedings had concluded, leaving the court with no power to grant effective relief. The panel declined to transfer the case for appellate review under the All Writs Act since no live controversy remained to support jurisdiction.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed a federal sentence, holding that a prior four-year state firearms conviction counts toward criminal history points even if the defendant did not physically serve the full term. The court also rejected a challenge to a supervised release revocation, finding the district court properly considered the defendant's history and the need for public protection.
