Correspondent
Capitol Hill correspondent, covers legislative and political stories.
The Ninth Circuit denied petitions for panel and en banc rehearing in a death penalty habeas case involving jury selection. The original panel had affirmed in part and vacated in part a district court ruling that denied federal habeas relief to a Nevada prisoner.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed the conviction of a defendant who pled guilty to aggravated identity theft while dismissing his appeal based on a valid waiver. The court found no meritorious grounds for appeal after reviewing the record under the Anders standard.
The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court's grant of summary judgment for the federal government in a motion seeking the return of cash stolen by an FBI agent. The panel held that sovereign immunity does not bar a claim under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure forty-one G when the government has recovered funds traceable to the seized money.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed a sentence of one hundred sixty-eight months for a defendant convicted of fentanyl trafficking. The court found no procedural error in the district court's refusal to apply a mitigating role reduction or its consideration of the defendant's criminal history.
The Ninth Circuit vacated and remanded a district court judgment that revoked a defendant's supervised release. The court held that the district court erred by failing to reduce the supervised release term by the time already served in imprisonment.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed a fifty-one-month sentence for a defendant convicted of conspiring to create and distribute animal crush videos. The court rejected arguments that the district court erred in applying a role enhancement or in finding the sentence substantively unreasonable.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of a second motion for compassionate release. The appellate court found no abuse of discretion in the lower court's determination that the defendant failed to establish an extraordinary and compelling basis for release.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the sentence imposed on a defendant convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying a continuance for a mental health evaluation.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a pro se plaintiff's amended complaint as an impermissible shotgun pleading. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in finding the complaint failed to provide fair notice of the claims asserted.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed the conviction and sentence of Hamilton Douglas Lanza-Rios for illegal reentry. The court held that Lanza-Rios's constitutional challenge to the sentencing enhancement was foreclosed by existing Supreme Court precedent.
