Correspondent
Capitol Hill correspondent, covers legislative and political stories.
The Fifth Circuit granted an appointed attorney's motion to withdraw from representing a criminal defendant after reviewing the record and finding no non-frivolous issues for appeal. Consequently, the court dismissed the appeal and excused counsel from further responsibilities.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed an 18-month prison sentence imposed after revoking Macy Renee Patterson's supervised release. The court held the sentence was substantively reasonable because the district court properly weighed sentencing factors without clear error.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed a 60-month prison sentence for a defendant who made multiple interstate threats against a federal judge and her family. The court held that the district court acted within its discretion to impose an upward variance based on the premeditated and terroristic nature of the conduct, despite the defendant's arguments regarding mitigating personal history.
The Fifth Circuit granted the Federal Public Defender's motion to withdraw from representing Willie Ray Valentine, finding no nonfrivolous issues for appellate review. The court dismissed the appeal pursuant to Fifth Circuit Rule 42.2 after a thorough examination of the record.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed a 48-month above-guidelines sentence for a defendant who facilitated a straw purchase of a firearm that was subsequently used to kill a police officer. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in rejecting the standard sentencing guidelines for straw purchasers due to the severe consequences of the defendant's conduct.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed Lee Holt's conviction for drug and firearm offenses, ruling that officers reasonably relied on a tribal search warrant despite a prior state court denial of a similar application. The court further held that probable cause supported the warrant and that the district court correctly refused to compel the disclosure of a confidential informant's identity.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed Oscar Hudspeth's conviction for sex abuse in Indian country, ruling that excluding polygraph evidence did not violate his constitutional right to present a complete defense. The court held that while the defendant sought to explain his incriminating statements as reactions to a failed polygraph, the exclusion of the test results was proper and did not prevent him from presenting his overall defense strategy.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a § 1983 false arrest and malicious prosecution claim against Denver police officers, ruling that the officers were protected by qualified immunity. The court held that an ambiguous surveillance video did not clearly establish that the officers lacked arguable probable cause to arrest the plaintiffs.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed a 75-month federal sentence for a bank fraud scheme, rejecting the defendant's challenges to two sentencing enhancements. The court found sufficient evidence that the defendant knowingly used sophisticated means and supervised other participants in the fraud.
The Fifth Circuit dismissed Marcus Guice's appeal after enforcing his plea agreement's appeal waiver. The court found the waiver was knowing, voluntary, and applicable to his challenge regarding a sentencing enhancement.
