Topic
Every decision we've filed under Criminal.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed Michael Anthony Rangel's conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm, rejecting his Second Amendment challenge. The court held that binding precedent remains unchanged following recent Supreme Court decisions, meaning the statute's constitutionality stands.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment revoking Cecil Edward Jackson's supervised release and imposing a time-served sentence followed by one year of supervision. The court held that the revocation was supported by Jackson's voluntary admission and the sentence was procedurally and substantively reasonable under applicable law.
The Tenth Circuit reversed Thomas Petro's conviction because the prosecutor's closing argument improperly declared that the defendant's presumption of innocence had been removed before deliberations began. The court held that these remarks, combined with the presentation of a nude photo, unfairly shifted the burden of proof and prejudiced the jury's impartiality.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed Tony Nico Clark's conviction while dismissing his sentencing appeal based on a valid appellate waiver. The court found no plain error in the district court's acceptance of Clark's guilty plea, upholding the sentence as a lawful downward variance.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed a 121-month prison sentence for a large-scale drug trafficker, ruling the district court properly exercised its discretion to impose an above-Guidelines sentence. The court found no procedural or substantive unreasonableness in the sentence, which was based on the defendant's leadership role and the extraordinary volume of drugs involved.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed Mitchell McNeil's 300-month sentence, ruling that the government did not breach its plea agreement by seeking a dangerous weapon enhancement. The court held that contract law principles limit the government to only those promises explicitly made in the agreement, and the agreement here reserved the right to present evidence on sentencing factors not stipulated by the parties.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed a 217-month sentence for a carjacking that left a victim permanently injured, rejecting the appellant's claim that he deserved a sentencing reduction for accepting responsibility. The court held that the defendant's repeated assertions that the shooting was accidental contradicted his guilty plea and demonstrated a lack of sincere remorse.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed Anthony Lee Daniels' Armed Career Criminal Act sentence, ruling that while the district court erred by determining predicate offenses occurred on different occasions without a jury, the mistake was harmless. The court found that Daniels would have admitted to the different occasions facts during his guilty plea had he been properly advised of his right to a jury determination.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a § 1983 false arrest and malicious prosecution claim against Denver police officers, ruling that the officers were protected by qualified immunity. The court held that an ambiguous surveillance video did not clearly establish that the officers lacked arguable probable cause to arrest the plaintiffs.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed Oscar Hudspeth's conviction for sex abuse in Indian country, ruling that excluding polygraph evidence did not violate his constitutional right to present a complete defense. The court held that while the defendant sought to explain his incriminating statements as reactions to a failed polygraph, the exclusion of the test results was proper and did not prevent him from presenting his overall defense strategy.