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Criminal Law

Fourth Circuit Blog

Case summaries and commentary by a federal defender in the 4th Circuit.
By Jonathan Byrne

Post Frequency: 3.6/day

Last Entry: October 14, 2020 at 11:09:00

Army Board decision on application for discharge reinstated

Posted on March 07, 2011
Kanai v. McHugh: Kanai, a West Point cadet in his final year, sought a discharge from the Army as a conscientious objector. The Department of the Army Conscientious Objector Board denied Kanai's application on the basis that he failed to demonstrate sincerely-held beliefs entitling him to conscientious objector status...

Vitalizing the exclusionary rule

Posted on March 03, 2011
US v. Foster: Foster pled guilty to one count of possession with intent to deliver cocaine after police officers discovered drugs and some paraphernalia during an investigative stop. Foster reserved the right to appeal the denial of a suppression motion in which he argued that the officers lacked a reasonable suspicion to make the stop...

Harp Still Controls Analysis of NC Priors

Posted on February 23, 2011
US v. Simmons: Simmons pleaded guilty to three drug charges after the Government filed an information under 21 USC 851 to enhance his sentence based on a prior conviction. The prior at issue is a 1996 North Carolina conviction for possession with intent...

Harmless Error Analysis for Guideline Miscalculation

Posted on February 23, 2011
US v. Savillon-Matute: Savillon-Matute pleaded guilty to illegal reentry. Prior to sentencing, the probation officer recommended an 8-level enhancement because Savillon-Matute's prior Maryland conviction for second-degree assault was an "aggravated felony...

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No Suppression Required for ECPA Violation

Posted on February 23, 2011
US v. Clenney: Clenney pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. The firearm was discovered during a search of his home subsequent to his arrest on state extortion charges. The extortion investigation led officers to Clenney's home...

District Court Must Allow Defendant to Withdraw Plea When It Overrides Mandatory Provision

Posted on February 23, 2011
US v. Lewis: Lewis entered into an agreement with the Government to plead guilty to one count of witness tampering (another of those counts and a felon in possession charge would be dropped). Part of the plea agreement stated that the "parties agree that this sentence of imprisonment shall be served concurrent with the state sentence [Lewis] is currently serving ...

Resisting Arrest Is Crime of Violence Under ACCA

Posted on February 23, 2011
US v. Jenkins: Jenkins was convicted of drug distribution and being a felon in possession of a firearm, then sentenced as a career offender. One of his two prior qualifying offenses, according to the district court, was a 1998 conviction for the "Maryland common law offense of resisting arrest...

Court Affirms 9-Year Sentence for Conspiracy to Defraud US of Taxes

Posted on January 31, 2011
US v. Thorson: Thorson, an attorney, was involved in a complex scheme to take advantage of a charitable giving tax loophole involving cemetery plots. Over three years, the scheme netted almost $10 million in fraudulent tax deductions. Thorson came up with the legal mechanics of the scheme...

No Leadership Enhancement In Drug Conspiracy

Posted on January 31, 2011
US v. Slade: Slade pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and crack. His role in the conspiracy:According to the PSR, which the district court adopted, Slade was a 'mid[-] to upper-level' member of the drug conspiracy who sold or delivered cocaine and cocaine base both to his own clientele and to other members of the conspiracy, who, in turn, sold the drugs to their clientele...

Skipping Departure for Variance Analysis Not Procedrually Unreasonable

Posted on January 31, 2011
US v. Diosdado-Star: Diosdado-Star was deported in 2002 because he entered the country illegally. He was back within a month, using an alias that matched that of a Border Patrol agent who was under investigation for misconduct. The investigation led to Diosdado-Star, who was discovered to be posing as a Border Patrol agent to others seeking to remain in the country illegally...

"Stipulation" Entered Without Defendant's Consent Not Harmless Error

Posted on January 24, 2011
US v. Williams: Williams was charged with conspiring to possess with intent heroin. The heroin at issue was seized when it came into the country at the Louisville airport in a package. Per the Government's theory, Williams was the end recipient of the package and he would distribute the contents...

Court Affirms Multiple Searches In Wake of Shooting

Posted on January 24, 2011
US v. Allen: Allen was shot and wounded (in a shooting that left another wounded and two more dead) in front of his store in Baltimore. An officer responding to the scene followed a trail of blood into the store, to a file cabinet, which he opened. Inside was a pistol...

Court Affirms Tax Evasion Conviction

Posted on January 24, 2011
US v. Cole: Cole was a real estate agent who partnered with three others to purchase commercial real estate. Cole negotiated the purchase price with the sellers and misrepresented the final amount of the sale price to his partners. The difference in the price paid and the seller's actual price demanded was absorbed by Cole, to the tune of $2 million...

Involuntary Manslaughter Not "Crime of Violence"

Posted on January 24, 2011
US v. Peterson: Peterson was convicted on multiple drug and gun counts. He was sentenced as a career offender, a status based partly on his 2001 conviction in North Carolina for involuntary manslaughter, arising from "an incident in which Peterson accidentally shot his close friend ...

Nature of Prior Conviction Determination Requires Only Preponderance

Posted on January 24, 2011
US v. Washington: Washington was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm. At sentencing, the issue was whether he qualified for an enhanced sentenced under the ACCA. For his third qualifying predicate offense, the Government identified a 1999 Maryland conviction for the "generic" offense " of "possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute...

Failure to Disclose Non-Witness Grand Jury Testimony Requires New Trial

Posted on January 24, 2011
US v. King: King was convicted of drug and firearm offenses arising from two separate incidents in North Carolina. In the first, officers surveiled a car that a tipster said was going to be used to transport heroin. Officers followed the car to a laundromat where the two men in the car went inside...

Intermediate Scrutiny for Second Amendment Review of MCDV Cases

Posted on December 30, 2010
US v. Chester: Police were called to Chester's home during a dispute with his then wife. A search of the home uncovered a pistol and a shotgun, which Chester admitted belonged to him. He was charged with possession of firearms after being convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, based on an earlier incident involving his daughter...

Watson's New Rule Applies Retroactively

Posted on December 30, 2010
US v. Thomas: Thomas was convicted of methamphetamine possession and possession of a firearm in connection with a drug trafficking offense. He received a total sentence of 90 months in prison. He did not appeal. After Thomas was sentenced, the Supreme Court handed down the Watson decision, in which it held that a person doesn't "use" a firearm under the statute if he receives it in trade for drugs...

Possession of Sawed-Off Shotgun Is Crime of Violence

Posted on December 30, 2010
US v. Hood: Hood was convicted of drug and gun offenses and sentenced as a career offender. He objected to that classification, arguing that a prior North Carolina conviction for "possession of a weapon of mass death and destruction" (actually a sawed-off shotgun) was not a crime of violence...

District Court Must ID Statutory Basis for Restitution Order

Posted on December 28, 2010
US v. Leftwich: Leftwich was convicted of mail fraud and making false claims, after participating in a scheme that saw the IRS pay out more than $2 million in false tax refunds. An issue at sentencing was whether the district court would order restitution...

Court OK's Assault Enhancement & Felony Enhancement Arising From Flight From Police

Posted on December 28, 2010
US v. Hampton: Hampton was a passenger in a car that was stopped for a broken taillight. During the stop, officers noticed that he was "exhibiting signs of nervousness." When the driver was arrested on an outstanding warrant, Hampton was ordered out of the car...

Divided Court OKs Extension of Traffic Stop

Posted on December 28, 2010
US v. Mason: Mason was driving on Interstate 20 in Georgia when he was pulled over due to having illegally tinted windows. Prior to writing Mason a warning, the officer talked with him and his passenger, who told different stories about where they had been and why...

Walk Away Escape Not Crime of Violence

Posted on December 28, 2010
US v. Clay: Another round in the ongoing saga of whether a prior escape conviction triggers enhanced recidivist penalties. In this case, the prior conviction was a Georgia conviction for felony escape, incurred at the same time as a conviction for interference with government property...

Tricking Agency Into Issuing Invalid Passport Supports Conviction

Posted on December 28, 2010
US v. Luke: A person claiming to be Luke's son applied for a passport in Philadelphia. Luke, a naturalized citizen, accompanied him to a subsequent interview. Although the applicant left during the interview when his identity was questioned, Luke remained and argued that the passport should be issued...

Sexually Dangerous Persons Comittment Scheme Does Not Violate Due Process

Posted on December 28, 2010
US v. Comstock: This decision comes following the remand of this case by the Supreme Court following it's decision last year upholding Congress's authority to enact the civil commitment scheme for "sexually dangerous" offenders in the Adam Walsh Act of 2006...

Unrelated Police Misconduct Does Not Require New Trial

Posted on December 06, 2010
US v. Robinson: Robinson was convicted by a jury of several drug and gun charges, including a 924(c) charge, and sentenced to 50 years in prison. After his trial, Robinson learned that four of the officers involved in the investigation against him had committed misconduct in other cases...

Court Vacates One Drug Conspiracy Conviction Only to Mandate Another

Posted on December 06, 2010
US v. Hickman: Hickman was charged in a multi-defendant indictment with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than one kilogram of heroin and possession with intent. He alone went to trial and was convicted. Pursuant to 21 USC 851, he was sentenced to life on the conspiracy count and 360 months on the possession count...

Seizure and Patdown Justified By Association With Apparent Gang Activity

Posted on December 06, 2010
US v. Hernandez-Mendez: Montgomery County (MD) police officers set up surveillance outside a local high school following a gang-related stabbing that had occurred in the area. The high school was noted for gang activity in the past. Hernandez-Mendez was observed with a group of seven young Hispanic men outside the school who appeared to be conducting some sort of meeting...

Questioning In Kitchen During Execution of Search Warrant Not Custodial

Posted on December 06, 2010
US v. Hargrove: Hargrove spent several months in Internet chat rooms having sexually explicit discussions with several minor girls, one of whom was actually an underage girl, while the others turned out to be cops. At some point, the discussions turned to plans to meet up in real life, leading to the execution of search warrants at Hargrove's home...

State Pretrial Detention Tolls Federal SR Term

Posted on November 15, 2010
US v. Ide: Ide was on a three-year term of supervised release when he was arrested on state charges, for which he was eventually convicted and sentenced. He spent about seven months in pretrial detention on the state charges and was given credit for that time when sentenced by the state court...

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