Topic
Every decision we've filed under Criminal.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a district court order denying a motion for sentence reduction. The appellate court found no error in the lower court's application of the relevant legal factors.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's sentence for a firearm offense, ruling that the judge did not abuse their discretion. The court held that the sentencing court properly weighed statutory factors and relied on Guidelines considerations to justify an upward variance.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed the conviction and sentence of a defendant who pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. The court rejected the defendant's constitutional challenge under the Bruen framework and upheld the sentencing enhancement applied by the district court.
The Third Circuit vacated a two-week sentence for a felon-in-possession of a firearm, ruling it procedurally and substantively unreasonable. The court held that the District Court failed to adequately address sentencing guidelines and the need for deterrence given the defendant's extensive drug violations during pretrial release.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the conviction and twenty-year sentence of Anthony Blair, rejecting multiple challenges to the sufficiency of evidence and the legality of digital forensics. The court held that the government proved Blair's guilty knowledge through his recruitment scheme and financial gains, and that the warrantless passcode guess did not violate the Fourth Amendment.
The First Circuit vacated a defendant's sentence for firearm possession by a prohibited person due to reliance on an invalid rationale. The court affirmed the defendant's supervised release revocation sentence because he waived his challenges to that ruling.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of a motion to suppress. The court held that an unconditional guilty plea waives nonjurisdictional defects, including challenges to the validity of a search.
The First Circuit vacated a defendant's sentence for firearm possession by a prohibited person due to reliance on an invalid rationale. The court affirmed the defendant's supervised release revocation sentence because he waived his challenges to that ruling.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the denial of Denzil Stewart's motion for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence. The court held that the proffered evidence was merely cumulative impeachment that would not have altered the outcome given the overwhelming physical and testimonial proof of guilt.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed a 24-month federal sentence for illegal reentry ordered to run consecutively to an undischarged state sentence for child sex abuse. The court held that the district court properly weighed the need to punish unrelated conduct and did not abuse its discretion in rejecting the defendant's arguments for a concurrent sentence.