Topic
Every decision we've filed under Fifth Amendment - Self-Incrimination.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the conviction of Troy Shelvin Cannon for sex trafficking. The panel rejected arguments regarding the admission of prior acts evidence, hearsay exclusion, and the sufficiency of the evidence presented at trial.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a district court dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The court found the plaintiff raised no federal question and that diversity jurisdiction was absent because both parties were Virginia citizens.
The First Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a qui tam action under the False Claims Act, holding that the relators failed to plead fraud with the particularity required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure nine point B.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed summary judgment for four police officers in a Fourth Amendment suit arising from a seizure of a suspected overdose victim. The court held that the officers were entitled to qualified immunity because they had an objectively reasonable basis to seize the plaintiff under the emergency-aid doctrine.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed Otis Crabbe's conviction for methamphetamine distribution, rejecting his claim that a stationhouse interrogation statement was involuntary. The court found the government met its burden to prove voluntariness and that the district court properly handled expert testimony, jury selection challenges, and lesser-included offense instructions.
The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court's grant of habeas corpus relief, holding that the California Supreme Court reasonably concluded that trial counsel's performance was not deficient and did not prejudice the defendant. The panel remanded the case for the district court to consider Scott's remaining claims while affirming the denial of relief on the guilt-phase ineffective assistance of counsel claim.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed a conviction for possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute, ruling that the defendant forfeited his challenge to the exclusion of video recordings. Because the defendant failed to preserve the evidentiary issue under Federal Rule of Evidence 106, the court applied a plain error standard and found no manifest injustice.
The Ninth Circuit denied a petition for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals order rejecting an asylum seeker's claims for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture. The court held that the petitioner's due process arguments were either foreclosed by precedent or unexhausted, and his substantive asylum claims were unreviewable because they were not raised before the Board.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed Amos Christolin's drug trafficking convictions, rejecting his claim that his ambiguous statement in Haitian Creole constituted an unequivocal invocation of his right to remain silent. The court further held that the district court's admission of an agent's translations did not violate the Confrontation Clause under plain error review.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed the denial of a new trial motion but vacated a sentence enhanced based on the defendant's status as a police officer. The court held that professional status is not a valid statutory factor for upward sentencing adjustments under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a).