In United States v. Williams, Case No. 18-13890 (Mar. 30, 2022) (Jordan, Jill Pryor, Tjoflat), the Court affirmed the district court because it found that Mr. Williams had forfeited any arguments under which the Court could grant relief on appeal. Mr. Williams, a sovereign citizen, wanted to represent himself before the district court. The district court held [...]
In Said v. U.S. Att'y Gen., 21-12917 (Mar. 24, 2022) (Jordan, Newsom, Tjoflat), the Court held that a violation of Fla. Stat. § 893.13(6)(a)--the Florida marijuana possession statute--did not relate to a controlled substance, as defined in 21 U.S.C. § 802, and thus did not prevent Mr. Said from accruing the necessary seven-year period of continuous residence for his [...]
In United States v. Lee, 20-13505 (Mar. 21, 2022) (Lagoa, Brasher, Tjoflat), the Court affirmed the defendant’s conviction under 18 U.S.C. 2251(a) over a double jeopardy challenge. The defendant sent text messages to a minor requesting sexually explicit images. The defendant was originally charged with violating 2251(d), and a jury convicted him. Shortly thereafter, however, [...]
In United States v. Dupree, Case No. 19-13776 (Feb. 18, 2022), the Court agreed to rehear Mr. Dupree's appeal en banc, vacating the panel's prior unpublished opinion. The panel, in affirming Mr. Dupree's sentence, found itself bound by the Court's opinion in United States v. Weir, 51 F.3d 1031 (11th Cir. 1995). The issue raised concerns whether [...]
In United States v. Campbell, Case No. 16-10128 (Feb. 16, 2022), the en banc Court--in an opinion authored by Judge Tjoflat--considered whether the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule is a proper ground for affirming Mr. Campbell's conviction despite the government's failure to raise that alternative ground before the panel, and answered in the affirmative. The [...]
In United States v. Dennis, Case No. 21-10316 (Feb. 16, 2022) (William Pryor, Jordan, Anderson), the Court affirmed Ms. Dennis's revocation sentence. The issue addressed on appeal concerned the notice that a probationer must receive before her probation can be revoked. Ms. Dennis was serving a sentence of 24 months probation when probation filed a petition [...]
In United States v. Williams, Case No. 20-14187 (Feb. 15, 2022) (Wilson, Luck, Lagoa), the Court affirmed the denial of Mr. Williams's motion for a sentence reduction under § 404 of the First Step Act, finding that he was not sentenced for a covered offense. Mr. Williams pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of unspecified amounts [...]
In Washington v. Durand, Case No. 20-12148 (Feb. 7, 2022) (William Pryor, Lagoa, Schlesinger (M.D. Fla.)), the Court, in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 case, addressed whether an officer must release a suspect detained pursuant to a valid arrest warrant when the officer learns of possibly exculpatory evidence. Here, during the investigation of the murder of an [...]
In United States v. Maurya, Case No. 19-10746 (Feb. 1, 2022) (William Pryor, Grant, Anderson), the Court affirmed Nathan Hardwick's convictions, but vacated the restitution portion of his sentence and remanded. The Court vacated Asha Maurya's sentence and remanded for resentencing. On appeal, both Hardwick and Maurya challenged the restitution order requiring a payment of over $40 [...]
In Chamu v. U.S. Att'y Gen., No. 19-13908 (Jan. 26, 2022) (Branch, Grant, Brasher), the Court, on appeal from a Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") decision, found Mr. Chamu ineligible for cancellation of removal on account of his prior conviction of an offense "relating to a controlled substance (as defined in section 802 of title 21)"--namely cocaine [...]