Topic
Every decision we've filed under Criminal.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed a district court judgment denying a motion to dismiss a firearm possession charge. The court held that it could not overrule a prior panel decision finding the statute constitutional under the Second Amendment.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the denial of safety-valve relief to a defendant convicted of drug trafficking, holding that his possession of firearms was in connection with the offense. The court found that a pattern of mixed drug and firearm sales from the same location facilitated the drug enterprise, precluding relief under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(f).
The Eighth Circuit vacates Paul Parrow's conviction for possession with intent to distribute controlled substances due to a district court's erroneous exclusion of evidence regarding a co-owner's drug history. The court affirmed the conspiracy conviction, finding the evidentiary error harmless for that count, but ordered a new trial on the possession charge where the excluded evidence was critical to the defense.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed a sentence of one hundred forty-four months for drug trafficking offenses. The court held that the district court did not plainly err by limiting its review of sentencing comparators to the Middle District of Florida.
The First Circuit vacated one conviction and affirmed others where a police officer was convicted for brutality and obstruction, ruling that a hearsay statement from the victim violated the Confrontation Clause on one count.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed Thomas Fairbanks's securities fraud convictions, ruling that the district court properly denied his motion to sever the counts and that sufficient evidence supported the verdict. The court found the joint trial did not prejudice the defendant and that the evidence established a unified fraudulent scheme against multiple victims.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded a district court dismissal of a prisoner's civil rights complaint. The court held that while some claims were barred by the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, others alleging a denial of a due process hearing were not.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed the reasonableness of an 18-month prison sentence for a defendant who repeatedly violated supervised release conditions. However, the court vacated an additional one-year supervised release term because it exceeded the statutory maximum allowed under 18 U.S.C. § 3583(h).
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the convictions and sentences of three defendants involved in MS-13 gang activities. The court rejected challenges regarding a protective sweep, jury impartiality, expert testimony, and the exclusion of impeachment evidence.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed RICO and VICAR convictions for three MS-13 members, rejecting challenges to a protective sweep, jury selection, and expert testimony. The court held that the evidence sufficiently supported the gang-related murder conspiracy charges and that the district court did not abuse its discretion in its evidentiary rulings.