Topic
Every decision we've filed under Mandatory Minimum.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the convictions and sentences of three defendants involved in a methamphetamine conspiracy.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed a fifty-four-year prison sentence for a defendant convicted of producing and possessing child sexual abuse material. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in weighing the need to protect the public over the defendant's history of abuse.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed a carjacking sentence where the defendant claimed entitlement to a sentencing reduction for acceptance of responsibility. The court held that the district court did not clearly err in denying the reduction because the defendant minimized his culpability and made inconsistent statements about the shooting.
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 Eighth Circuit affirmed the conviction of a defendant accused of sexually abusing a child in Indian country. The court held that excluding polygraph test references from an FBI interview did not violate the defendant's right to present a complete defense.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed a criminal judgment where the district court imposed an Armed Career Criminal Act enhanced sentence. The court held that while a plain error occurred regarding the different occasions element, the defendant failed to show it affected his substantial rights.
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.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed a 212-month sentence for a felon-in-possession conviction, ruling that the defendant waived any challenge to the statutory mandatory minimum by explicitly agreeing to it in his plea agreement. The court held that the defendant's clear admissions constituted a waiver of the right to appeal the procedural reasonableness of the sentence, precluding review under the plain error standard.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the denial of David Antoine Luster's motion for compassionate release, ruling that his claim of an unusually long sentence did not constitute an extraordinary and compelling reason for relief. The court held that the district court properly weighed the severity of Luster's bank robbery convictions and firearm offenses against the non-retroactive changes in law under the First Step Act.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed a 128-month sentence for drug trafficking, rejecting arguments that the drug mixture was not marketable as fentanyl. The court also found the sentence substantively reasonable given the defendant's guideline range and criminal history.