Correspondent
Capitol Hill correspondent, covers legislative and political stories.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed the denial of Joseph Gray Jr.'s motion for compassionate release, ruling that he failed to demonstrate a nonretroactive change in law affecting his culpability. The court further held that Gray did not satisfy the statutory requirement of having served at least ten years of his sentence.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed Sandra Iribhogbe Popnen's 325-month sentence for fraud and money laundering, rejecting her challenges to loss calculations and sentencing guidelines reductions. The court held that the district court properly attributed co-conspirator losses and correctly denied a reduction for acceptance of responsibility.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed the denial of a federal prisoner's motion to reduce his sentence, holding that Amendment 821 to the Sentencing Guidelines provided no relief because no status points were assessed at his original sentencing. The court further determined that the defendant abandoned arguments regarding Part B of the amendment and procedural errors, leaving only a claim subject to plain error review which failed.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed a sentence for illegal reentry, rejecting a constitutional challenge to a statutory enhancement because the argument is foreclosed by Supreme Court precedent. The court granted the Government's motion for summary affirmance without oral argument, leaving the district court's judgment intact.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed a 21-month sentence for illegal reentry, holding that the district court provided sufficient reasons for its within-guidelines ruling. The court applied plain error review to the defendant's forfeited procedural challenge and found no reversible error.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of claims against city officials for failing to state a claim due to insufficient factual specificity regarding municipal liability. However, the court vacated the dismissal against county officials, ruling that the complaint sufficiently alleged malicious prosecution and failure to train under qualified immunity standards.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed a defendant's resentencing, rejecting her claim that the increased sentence resulted from judicial vindictiveness. The court held that because a different judge imposed the new sentence, the presumption of retaliatory motivation does not apply, and the defendant failed to prove actual animus.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed a 96-month sentence for a felon in possession of ammunition, ruling that any error in applying a sentencing enhancement was harmless. The court held that the district court would have imposed the same sentence based on statutory factors regardless of the disputed Guidelines calculation.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed Saleem Naazir Hakim's tax convictions, ruling that admitting probation testimony did not violate his Fifth Amendment rights. The court found no plain error because Hakim failed to unambiguously invoke his privilege against self-incrimination and the government demonstrated its evidence derived from independent sources.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed Vinson Thompson's Armed Career Criminal Act sentence because his challenge regarding the lack of a jury finding was procedurally barred by the plain error standard. The court concluded that while the district court erred by not advising Thompson of his right to a jury on the 'different occasions' element, the error did not affect his substantial rights given the overwhelming evidence of his criminal history.
