In United States v. Joseph Lamont Ott, No. 24-13812 (11th Cir. Jan. 29, 2026) (Grant, Lagoa, Wilson), the Court held that, pursuant to November 1, 2023 amendments to the sentencing guidelines, any attempt to commit a qualifying “crime of violence,” will itself qualify as a “crime of violence,” pursuant to the “unambiguous” language of U.S.S.G. [...]
In United States v. Stefan Eberhard Zappey, 164 F.4th 1348 (11th Cir. 2026) (Abudu, Rosenbaum, Wilson), the Court affirmed Zappey’s convictions for multiple counts of aggravated sexual abuse, and abusive sexual contact with children under 12. For 20 years, Zappey taught German language classes to children at an American school on a military base in [...]
In In re Bowe, No. 24-11704 (Feb. 6, 2026) (Ed Carnes, Grant, Wilson), the Eleventh Circuit granted Bowe’s request for authorization to file a second or successive 2255 motion challenging his 924(c) conviction based on the Supreme Court’s decision in Davis. This case was on remand from the Supreme Court, which held that the [...]
FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT SPANISH INTERPRETER MIAMI OFFICE The Federal Public Defender for the Southern District of Florida is accepting applications for the position of Spanish Interpreter in our Miami office. The Federal Public Defender, a branch of the United States Courts, an Equal Opportunity Employer, operates under the authority of the Criminal [...]
FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT LEGAL ASSISTANT MIAMI OFFICE The Federal Public Defender for the Southern District of Florida is accepting applications for the full-time position of Legal Assistant in our Miami office. The Federal Public Defender, a branch of the United States Courts, an Equal Opportunity Employer, operates under the authority of the [...]
FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT RECEPTIONIST/CLERICAL ASSISTANT FORT LAUDERDALE OFFICE The Federal Public Defender for the Southern District of Florida is accepting applications for the full-time position of Receptionist/Clerical Assistant in our Fort Lauderdale office. The Federal Public Defender, a branch of the United States Courts, is an Equal Opportunity Employer and operates [...]
In United States v. Starr, 159 F.4th 901 (11th Cir. 2025) (Newsom, Jordan*, Honeywell (MDFL)), the Court affirmed the defendants’ interstate murder for hire convictions, in violation of 18 U.S.C. s. 1958, arising from the murder of Jason Starr’s ex-wife, Sara Starr. In affirming the murder for hire convictions, the Court also held: The [...]
Update: “After considering the government’s petition for panel rehearing, we vacate our earlier opinion and issue this one in its place. Our holding is unchanged. The only modifications to our opinion are in Part II.B.1, clarifying that while we conclude that the prosecutor engaged in reversible misconduct by relying on an unadmitted exhibit during [...]
In United States v. Keegan, No. 22-13019 (11th Cir. Dec. 17, 2025) (Grant, Newsom, Abudu), the Court affirmed Keegan’s conviction for CP production, after a conditional guilty plea preserving Keegan’s right to appeal the district court’s pre-trial evidentiary ruling. The district court had excluded a defense expert psychologist’s proffered testimony about Keegan’s post-indictment statements, made [...]
In United States v. Erica Kelley Day, No. 24-13312 (11th Cir. Dec. 23, 2025) (Pryor CJ, Lagoa, Kidd)—also a government appeal—the Court held that a district court, when considering a government motion to depart from a statutory minimum for substantial assistance on one count, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3553(e) & USSG 5K1.1, may not [...]