Topic
Every decision we've filed under Criminal.
The Eleventh Circuit dismissed Aaron Thompson's appeal of his 41-month sentence because his plea agreement contained a valid waiver of his right to appeal. The court held that Thompson knowingly and voluntarily waived his appellate rights, and none of the specific exceptions to that waiver applied to his case.
The Eleventh Circuit dismissed Aaron Thompson's appeal of his 41-month sentence because a valid waiver in his plea agreement barred the challenge. The court held that Thompson knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to appeal substantive reasonableness, rendering the appeal unenforceable.
The Eleventh Circuit dismissed Aaron Thompson's appeal of his 41-month sentence for mailing threatening communications, ruling that his plea agreement's waiver provision barred the challenge. The court held that because Thompson failed to demonstrate his sentence exceeded the guideline range, statutory maximum, or violated the Eighth Amendment, the specific exceptions allowing an appeal were not triggered.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed the revocation of Thompson Mandrell's supervised release, ruling that clear and convincing evidence supported the finding that he violated a condition requiring compliance with halfway house policies. The court held that a probation officer's testimony regarding monitoring software was sufficient to prove Mandrell possessed sexually explicit images, rejecting arguments about evidentiary gaps.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed Christopher Defilippis's life sentence for distributing fentanyl that caused a death, ruling that witness testimony and chemical evidence sufficiently proved the drugs he sold were the but-for cause of the victim's overdose. The court also rejected claims regarding evidentiary errors and discovery violations, finding any mistakes harmless and the government's disclosures adequate.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed Joshua Ryan Burns's conviction for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, rejecting his constitutional challenges as foreclosed by binding precedent. The court granted the government's motion for summary affirmance without oral argument, leaving the district court's judgment in full force.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed David Manuel Garcia's conviction for engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place, rejecting his Commerce Clause challenge as unpreserved plain error. The court held that Garcia failed to cite controlling authority establishing that the statute exceeds congressional power, meaning no clear or obvious error occurred.
The Fifth Circuit granted appointed counsel's motion to withdraw and dismissed the appeal after a review found no nonfrivolous issues for appellate review. The court concluded the record contained no arguable claims of error, leaving the district court's judgment in place.
The Fifth Circuit granted the Federal Public Defender's motion to withdraw from representing Thelma Marshell Anderson after determining the appeal contained no nonfrivolous issues. The court dismissed the appeal without addressing the merits of the underlying conviction.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed a 200-month sentence for a firearms conviction, ruling that while the district court erred by determining the 'different occasions' of prior felonies without a jury, the mistake was harmless. The court held that the defendant would have waived his right to a jury and admitted the prior offenses occurred on separate occasions had he been properly advised during his guilty plea.