In Garrison v. United States, No. 20-13260 (July 13, 2023) (Branch, Luck, Antoon), the Court affirmed the denial of a 2255 motion challenging a 924(c) conviction based on Davis. he 924(c) conviction in this stash house robbery case was based on two drug trafficking offenses and Hobbs Act conspiracy, the latter of which is no [...]
In United States v. Walker, No. 22-10164 (July 13, 2023) (William Pryor, Luck, Hull), the Court affirmed the defendant’s sex trafficking convictions. First, the evidence was sufficient to support a conviction of sex trafficking by coercion because a reasonable jury could have found that the defendant had a scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause [...]
In Perkins v. United States, No. 20-14781 (July 10, 2023) (Branch, Grant, Schlesinger), the Court affirmed the denial of a 2255 motion. First, the Court affirmed the denial of a substantive competency/due process claim. The district court did not clearly err in finding that the movant was competent at the time of sentencing and in [...]
In United States v. Jews, No. 22-10502 (July 6, 2023) (Wilson, Newsom, Lagoa), the Court vacated the defendant’s sentence. The Court held that the defendant’s Alabama youthful-offender adjudication was not an “adult” conviction under U.S.S.G. 2K2.1 or 4A1.2. The Court reached that conclusion after applying four factors from circuit precedent. First, state law did not [...]
In United States v. Gonzalez, No. 19-14381 (June 21, 2023) (Jordan, Newsom, Tjoflat), the Court revised its earlier panel opinion from August 2021 in light of the Supreme Court's decision in Concepcion. It again affirmed the denial of Mr. Gonzalez's motion under § 404(b) of the First Step Act. The Court reaffirmed its conclusion that Mr. Gonzalez's revocation of [...]
In United States v. Laines, No. 21-11535 (June 6, 2023) (Bill Pryor, Rosenbaum, Marcus), the Court affirmed Mr. Laines's drug- and firearm-related convictions as well as his ACCA sentence, which was based upon a prior Florida cocaine conviction. Mr. Laines first argued that the evidence was insufficient to support two of his convictions--possession with intent to [...]
In United States v. Ware, No. 21-10539 (June 1, 2023) (Newsom, Luck, Tjoflat), the Court affirmed Mr. Ware's convictions and sentence. Mr. Ware was convicted of thirteen counts of Hobbs Act robbery and associated firearm offenses, and sentenced to life in prison. On appeal, he raised three challenges to his convictions and one challenge to his sentence. [...]
In United States v. Verdeza, No. 21-10461 (May 31, 2023) (William Pryor, Rosenbaum, Marcus), the Court affirmed the defendant’s healthcare fraud convictions and sentence. First, the Court held that the evidence was sufficient to support the convictions under an aiding and abetting theory. Second, the district court did not commit plain error by allowing an [...]
In United States v. Gruezo, No. 22-11342 (May 5, 2023) (Newsom, Grant, Hull) (per curiam), the Court affirmed the defendant’s MDLEA convictions. After previously issuing this unpublished opinion without oral argument, the Court granted the government’s motion to publish the opinion. First, the Court held that there was jurisdiction under the MDLEA. The defendant stipulated [...]
In United States v. Hamilton, No. 21-14266 (May 2, 2023) (Rosenbaum, Jill Pryor, Tjoflat), the Court—without oral argument—affirmed the defendant’s 40-year sentence and lifetime term of supervised release after pleading guilty to enticing a minor, sending interstate extortionist threats, and producing child pornography. As to the term of imprisonment, the defendant argued that the district [...]