In United States v. Gary, No. 21-13249 (July 21, 2023) (Wilson, Luck, Hull) (per curiam), the Court held upheld the defendant’s ACCA sentence. The Court held that Florida aggravated assault qualified as a “violent felony” under the ACCA’s elements clause. The Court relied on its decision in Somers, which reached that same conclusion after the [...]

In United States v. Ahmed, No. 20-14264 (July 13, 2023) (Rosenbaum, Branch, Brasher), the Court affirmed the defendant’s convictions for healthcare fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. irst, the Court found no Sixth Amendment violation due to counsel’s failure to visit the defendant during an overnight recess out of concerns about the pandemic. Any lack [...]

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. 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 [...]