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The Eleventh Circuit affirmed Roger Lee Caldwell Jr.'s convictions for child pornography offenses, ruling that any error in admitting hearsay testimony from a detective was harmless. The court held that overwhelming independent evidence, including victim testimony and physical DNA, rendered the disputed statements non-prejudicial to the verdict.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed the denial of Bato Petrov's petition for cancellation of removal, holding that he failed to prove the statutory requirement of exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to his U.S. citizen relatives. The court further ruled that the Board of Immigration Appeals acted within its discretion in rejecting Petrov's motion to reopen the case as untimely and insufficiently probative.
The Eleventh Circuit granted appointed counsel's motion to withdraw from representing Daniel Vega Cabrera after an independent review found no arguable issues of merit in the appeal. Consequently, the court affirmed Cabrera's convictions and sentences without holding oral argument.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed the denial of Bato Petrov's petition for cancellation of removal, holding that his evidence failed to meet the statutory standard of exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to his U.S. citizen relatives. The court further ruled that the Board of Immigration Appeals acted within its discretion in denying Petrov's motion to reopen based on newly submitted medical and economic evidence.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed Christopher Holloway's conviction and 120-month sentence, ruling that his guilty plea was entered knowingly and voluntarily. The court further held that a valid appeal waiver in his plea agreement barred him from challenging the substantive reasonableness of his sentence.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed Rosezzettea Lee Lopez's convictions for transporting undocumented individuals for commercial advantage, ruling that recorded messages and admissions provided sufficient evidence of a financial motive. The court also rejected Lopez's constitutional challenges to her arrest and prosecution, holding that these arguments were waived because they were not raised during her trial.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of John Curry's federal civil rights claims, ruling that the two-year statute of limitations began running on the date of his arrest in March 2020. The court held that Curry failed to preserve his arguments on appeal and that his claims against private individuals were barred because they were not acting under color of state law.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a customer's claims against his bank for failing to prevent third-party fraud on unrelated accounts. The court held that under Texas law, banks owe no duty to customers to prevent such fraud absent a foreseeable danger, and the plaintiff failed to meet the strict pleading standards required for fraud and consumer protection claims.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed a supervised release revocation sentence, clarifying that while courts cannot consider retributive factors under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2)(A), they may properly consider offense circumstances for deterrence and public safety. The court held that the district judge's references to the defendant's repeated criminal conduct were aimed at assessing future risk rather than punishing past acts.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed summary judgment, holding that prison officials are not liable under the Eighth Amendment without proof of subjective knowledge of a specific risk to an inmate. The court clarified that general awareness of gang violence is insufficient to establish deliberate indifference when officials lack actual awareness that their conduct caused a substantial risk of harm.
