Correspondent
Capitol Hill correspondent, covers legislative and political stories.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed Ricky House's 96-month sentence, ruling that his challenge to the large-capacity-magazine enhancement was forfeited because he invited the error by stipulating to its application below. The court further held that the district court adequately considered House's policy arguments regarding the enhancement when imposing a below-Guidelines sentence.
The Fifth Circuit granted the Federal Public Defender's motion to withdraw from representing Lonnie Caldera after finding no nonfrivolous issues for appeal. The court dismissed the appeal, leaving the defendant's conviction intact without further appellate review.
The Fifth Circuit granted appointed counsel's motion to withdraw and dismissed the appeal after finding no nonfrivolous issues for review. The court concurred with the attorney's assessment that the case lacked arguable grounds for reversal under the Anders standard.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed the denial of Joseph Bourabah's motions to substitute counsel and withdraw his guilty plea, finding no abuse of discretion in the district court's handling of the requests. The court upheld a 100-month sentence for a severe cyberstalking campaign, ruling that the district court properly applied upward departures for the extreme psychological injury inflicted on the victims.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a personal injury lawsuit against Target, ruling that California's two-year statute of limitations applies to the case rather than North Dakota's six-year period. The court held that under California's governmental interest approach to choice of law, the state has a stronger interest in applying its laws to a California resident suing in a California court for products purchased there.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed the denial of Jersom Andu Mena's motion to dismiss his federal firearms indictment, holding that facial Second Amendment challenges to 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3) are foreclosed by binding circuit precedent. The court clarified that the Supreme Court's recent decision in United States v. Rahimi does not undermine the established authority of United States v. Veasley.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed Robert Harris's conviction for distributing fentanyl resulting in serious bodily injury, ruling that sharing a drug line constitutes distribution under federal law. The court rejected the argument that a physical hand-to-hand transfer is required to prove the offense.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of Derek Dixon's motion for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2), ruling that the trial court properly exercised its discretion to reject the request despite a lowered guideline range. The appellate court found no abuse of discretion given the extreme violence of Dixon's crimes and his prior agreement that the maximum term was reasonable under § 3553(a).
The First Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a habeas corpus petition filed by a deported individual, holding that federal jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 requires the petitioner to be in custody of state authorities at the time of filing. Because the petitioner had been deported to Trinidad and Tobago before filing her claim, she failed to satisfy the statutory custody requirement.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the revocation of Laphonse Young's supervised release, holding that the district court retained jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 3583(i) because a warrant was issued before the term expired. The court rejected Young's arguments regarding hearsay evidence and the opportunity to object, finding no reversible error in the district court's proceedings.
