Every decision we've summarized from United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
The Fourth Circuit held that the execution of a removal warrant by ICE after an EOIR final order is not a 'pending proceeding' under 18 U.S.C. § 1505. Consequently, the court vacated the defendant's conviction for obstructing immigration proceedings and remanded the case.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of the plaintiff's complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The court also denied the plaintiff's motion to amend the complaint and dispensed with oral argument.
The Fourth Circuit reversed the denial of qualified immunity for detention officers, holding that the plaintiff failed to plead facts connecting specific officers to the inmate's death. The court ruled that collective allegations against a group of officers are insufficient to establish individual liability under the Fourteenth Amendment.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed Trent Russell's conviction for wrongfully obtaining health information and destroying records, rejecting claims that his interview was coerced and that the evidence was insufficient. The court held that the screenshot of Justice Ginsburg's medical visits constituted protected health information and that the district court properly limited cross-examination without violating the Confrontation Clause.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed Derickson Lawrence's eleven convictions for wire and mail fraud, ruling that the evidence sufficiently proved his intent to defraud cardholders and the government. The court further held that the district court properly joined the fraud schemes and correctly applied a sentencing enhancement for sophisticated means.
The Fourth Circuit held that a North Carolina Prayer for Judgment Continued conditioned on community service constitutes a conviction under federal immigration law. Consequently, the petitioner remains ineligible for cancellation of removal due to having two prior crimes involving moral turpitude.
The Fourth Circuit denied Mackie James Walker, Jr.'s petition for a writ of mandamus as moot because the district court had already issued a final order denying his habeas motions. The court dismissed the petition without addressing the merits of Walker's claims regarding judicial delay.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of Eric Lee Smith's motion for a new trial, finding no abuse of discretion in the lower court's ruling. The court held that Smith failed to meet the stringent five-part standard required to prove newly discovered evidence would likely result in acquittal.
The Fourth Circuit dismissed in part and denied in part a petition for review of a denial of cancellation of removal because the petitioner failed to prove exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to his U.S. citizen children. The court held that while it cannot reweigh factual findings, the undisputed record facts do not legally constitute the required level of hardship under the statute.
The Fourth Circuit vacated a supervised release revocation sentence because the district court misclassified a drug-testing violation as a Grade B offense instead of the correct Grade C classification. The court remanded the case for resentencing to apply the proper sentencing guidelines and address potential statutory limits on the term of supervised release.