Topic
Every decision we've filed under Sex Offenses.
The Seventh Circuit dismissed an appeal challenging a district court's denial of qualified immunity because the lower court's ruling was not a final adjudication. The appellate court held that the district court's decision to deny immunity without prejudice and invite further arguments at summary judgment did not satisfy the collateral order doctrine.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed Lennie Perry's conviction, ruling that the district court properly denied his midtrial request for a sixth appointed attorney after he had twice validly waived his right to counsel. The court held that once a defendant knowingly and voluntarily waives the Sixth Amendment right to self-representation, the judge may hold him to that decision without reassessing his motives or the potential for delay.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed a conviction for attempting to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity. The court held that jury unanimity is not required regarding which specific state offense underlies the federal charge.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed a defendant's sentence, ruling that supervised release conditions requiring full-time employment, polygraph testing, and no contact with minors were not substantively unreasonable. The court clarified that such conditions need only be reasonably related to statutory factors rather than supported by each factor individually.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for law enforcement officers in a wrongful death case, ruling that their failure to intervene during a deadly standoff did not violate the victim's constitutional rights. The court held that the officers were not liable under federal civil rights law or state tort law because they did not create the danger and were physically prevented from acting by the shooter's active fire.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a life sentence imposed on a defendant convicted of enticement and attempted enticement of a minor. The court held that the defendant failed to demonstrate that the district court committed error in balancing sentencing factors or considering mitigating evidence regarding his history of childhood sexual abuse.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed that school officials violated the Equal Protection Clause by enforcing a sex-segregation policy in an elementary school and retaliated against parents who complained. However, the court reversed the denial of qualified immunity for the teacher regarding substantive due process claims and dismissed procedural due process claims against supervisors for lack of personal participation.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed that prison officials violated an inmate's Eighth Amendment rights by using her as bait to catch a sexual predator, but reversed the damages award due to insufficient evidence and procedural errors. The court ordered a new trial on compensatory and punitive damages while leaving the liability finding intact.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed that prison officials acted with deliberate indifference by using an inmate as bait to catch a staff member who was sexually assaulting her, rejecting their qualified immunity defense. However, the court reversed the damages award, ordering a new trial because the jury lacked sufficient evidence to link the officials to the abuse prior to their specific knowledge and because the exclusion of evidence regarding the inmate's state of mind prejudiced the punitive damages calculation.
The Seventh Circuit granted appointed counsel's motion to withdraw and dismissed Kendall Guyton's appeal after determining the case was frivolous under Anders v. California. The court found no non-frivolous grounds to challenge Guyton's sex trafficking conviction or his 324-month sentence.