Correspondent
Capitol Hill correspondent, covers legislative and political stories.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the denial of a federal habeas corpus petition filed by a Michigan prisoner. The court held that the state trial court did not violate constitutional rights by providing aiding-and-abetting jury instructions and that the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to support the convictions.
The Fourth Circuit denied Antonio Edwards's petition for a writ of mandamus because the district court had already ruled on his underlying motions. The court found the issue moot since the alleged delay no longer existed.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed a district court's decision to revoke supervised release and impose the maximum 36-month reimprisonment term. The court held that judges have wide discretion in revocation proceedings and may weigh the seriousness of violations heavily without being bound by advisory Sentencing Guidelines ranges.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed a 24-month upward variance sentence imposed for federal probation violations involving child pornography. The court held that although the district court failed to explicitly state the reasons for the variance in open court, the record was sufficiently clear to prevent reversible error.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed convictions under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9), ruling that the federal ban on firearm possession by domestic violence misdemeanants is constitutional under the Second Amendment. The court held that the statute aligns with historical traditions of disarming dangerous classes and does not require individualized findings of future dangerousness for each offender.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed Desean Williams's conviction because his claim of a conflict of interest regarding his plea agreement's appellate waiver was raised for the first time on direct appeal. The court held that resolving the factual predicate of this claim would require acting as a fact-finder, a role it cannot perform without a record developed in the district court.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed Jalen Craig McMillan's convictions for bank fraud conspiracy, bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft. The court rejected McMillan's challenges to the admission of non-expert witness testimony and the denial of his motion for judgment of acquittal, finding no reversible error.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit granted the government's motion to dismiss an appeal based on a waiver in the defendant's plea agreement. The court enforced the waiver, noting that it was made knowingly and voluntarily.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed Terrance Patterson's conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm, rejecting his claim that the district court erred by not ordering a competency hearing sua sponte. The court held that the magistrate judge's thorough colloquy under Rule 11, combined with the defendant's affirmative responses regarding his mental state, provided sufficient evidence of competency.
The Eleventh Circuit dismissed Steven James Kelly's criminal appeal because his notice of appeal was filed well past the 14-day deadline mandated by the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. Even applying the prison mailbox rule to calculate the filing date, the appeal remained untimely and ineligible for an extension of time.
