Topic
Every decision we've filed under Criminal.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed a 24-month prison sentence imposed after the revocation of William Coleman's supervised release. The court held that the district court did not clearly err in finding that Coleman possessed a firearm during a shoplifting incident, despite conflicting witness testimony and low-quality video evidence.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has issued an opinion in this criminal appeal. Judgment has been entered in accordance with the court's decision.
The Tenth Circuit reversed a conviction, ruling that the Fourth Amendment does not permit a protective sweep of a vehicle based solely on a passenger's romantic relationship with an arrested driver. The court held that the government's reliance on this association constituted an impermissible criminality-by-association test rather than a valid totality-of-circumstances analysis for reasonable suspicion.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed summary judgment for JetBlue Airways, holding that the plaintiff's ADA disability discrimination claim was barred by the statute of limitations. The court ruled that the denial of a mask accommodation in 2020 was a discrete act that started the clock, and the plaintiff's subsequent actions in 2022 did not restart the filing deadline.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has issued an opinion in the case of United States versus Dana Sam. Judgment has been entered in accordance with the court's decision.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a motion by the Federal Public Defender to withdraw from representing Berenice Sanchez. The court dismissed the appeal after finding no nonfrivolous issues for appellate review.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the revocation of Elliot Walker's supervised release and his 36-month sentence, holding that circumstantial evidence was sufficient to prove he possessed fentanyl with intent to distribute. The court further ruled that any potential error in admitting hearsay testimony was harmless and that the district court did not plainly err by failing to exclude retributive factors from its sentencing reasoning.
The Fifth Circuit granted the Government's unopposed motion for summary affirmance in a challenge to a firearms conviction. The court rejected the appellant's Second Amendment and Commerce Clause arguments without issuing a full written opinion.
The First Circuit affirmed Mark Anthony Figueroa's money laundering conspiracy conviction, ruling that the district court's admission of a cooperating witness's kidnapping testimony and law enforcement overview testimony did not constitute reversible error. The court held that any evidentiary mistakes were harmless given the overwhelming independent evidence linking the defendant to drug trafficking proceeds.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the conviction of a defendant charged with felon in possession of a firearm. The court held that the defendant's Second Amendment challenges to the federal statute were foreclosed by existing precedent.