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 United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit dismissed an appeal filed by a federal prisoner seeking legal aid forms. The court ruled the case was moot because the appellant was no longer confined at the facility he sued.
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 a conviction for illegal reentry under Section eight thousand three hundred twenty-six. The court rejected a constitutional challenge to the recidivism enhancement, noting the argument is foreclosed by Supreme Court precedent.
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 United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has issued an opinion in this criminal appeal. Judgment has been entered in accordance with the court's decision.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed Bernard Seidling's bankruptcy fraud conviction, ruling that the district court properly admitted video evidence to rebut his claims of severe illness. The court held that the videos were relevant to the truth of his health representations and that their probative value was not substantially outweighed by any risk of unfair prejudice.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment while declining to review a defendant's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel regarding a safety valve reduction. The court held that while the claim was not barred by issue preclusion, it could not be adjudicated on direct appeal due to insufficient record detail.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed Aaron Strong's conviction for witness tampering, ruling that evidence of routine federal-state collaboration on excessive force cases satisfied the statutory requirement for federal involvement. The court held that a defendant's false statements to a state investigator can constitute a federal crime when the underlying conduct is a common target of federal civil rights prosecutions.
