Oshay Shadon Brown appealed the revocation of his supervised release and the imposition of a 24-month sentence. The underlying revocation was based on two violations: assault and battery against his girlfriend, Ms. Desirae Burton, under tribal law, and a violation of a no-contact order by communicating with her. Brown's appointed attorney moved to withdraw, asserting that all potential grounds for appeal were frivolous under the standard set in Anders v. California. Brown did not file a response to the motion.
The panel agreed with counsel that the appeal lacked merit. For the assault finding, the court noted the government presented an eyewitness who saw Brown punch the victim, officers who testified to the victim's identification and visible injuries, and photographs of those injuries. Although the victim denied being hit at the hearing, the district court properly credited her contemporaneous statements and the eyewitness testimony. The court emphasized that for supervised release revocation, the standard is a preponderance of the evidence, and appellate courts defer to the district court's credibility determinations. Regarding the no-contact violation, the government presented the order and call logs showing Brown called the victim while the order was in effect, a fact the victim admitted. The court found these arguments groundless, citing United States v. Williams and United States v. Handley for the standard of review. Finally, the court found the sentence reasonable as it fell within the ranges prescribed by U.S.S.G. § 7B1.4(b)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e)(3), with no record suggesting a basis to question its reasonableness.
The appeal is dismissed, and the 24-month sentence for the supervised release violations stands. The case is closed, and counsel is permitted to withdraw from representation. The decision reinforces the high deference appellate courts give to district courts' factual findings and credibility determinations in supervised release revocation proceedings.
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