Correspondent
Capitol Hill correspondent, covers legislative and political stories.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed a one hundred month sentence for a convicted felon possessing a firearm. The court held that any potential error in calculating the Sentencing Guidelines range was harmless because the district court would have imposed the same sentence regardless.
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 appellate review.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed a district court order denying a defendant's motion for a sentence reduction. The court found no error in the lower court's application of the Sentencing Guidelines and its consideration of statutory factors.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a motion to withdraw appointed counsel and dismissed the appeal. The court found that the appointed attorney properly filed an Anders brief asserting the appeal presented no nonfrivolous issues.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a sixty-six-month sentence for a defendant convicted of possessing a firearm as a felon. The court found sufficient evidence to support sentencing enhancements related to a semiautomatic weapon and drug trafficking.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed the conviction of Lorin Kal Buckner, who represented himself while advancing sovereign-citizen arguments. The court rejected Buckner's claims that his waiver of counsel was invalid and that he was mentally incompetent.
The Fourth Circuit dismissed an appeal filed by a federal prisoner seeking relief under Section twenty-eight U.S.C. Section two thousand two hundred fifty-five. The court denied a certificate of appealability because the appellant failed to make a substantial showing of the denial of a constitutional right.
The Eighth Circuit dismissed an appeal by a defendant who had pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a minor. The court held that the defendant knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to appeal his sentence under the terms of his plea agreement.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed a conviction for conspiracy to violate civil rights where the defendant challenged the incorporation of supervised release conditions. The court held that the district court properly satisfied its obligation by adopting the presentence report and incorporating its terms into the written judgment.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed a wire fraud conviction and sentence after the defendant failed to show a fair and just reason for withdrawing his guilty plea. The court also rejected the defendant's claim that his sentence was substantively unreasonable given the significant downward variance already granted.
