In United States v. Akwuba, No. 19-12230 (Aug. 11, 2021) (Wilson, Rosenbaum, Ed Carnes), the Court affirmed, with one exception, the defendant’s convictions for distributing controlled substances and health care fraud as part of a pill mill operation. First, with one exception, the evidence was sufficient to support her convictions for distribution of controlled [...]
In United States v. Williams, No. 19-11972 (July 23, 2021) (Martin, Grant, Brasher), the Court affirmed the defendant's convictions for sex trafficking and sentence of life imprisonment. Defendant raised three challenges to his convictions: (1) the district court improperly admitted nude images and videos of the victims; (2) there was not enough evidence to show that he [...]
In United States v. Dudley, No. 19-10267 (July 22, 2021) (Newsom, Branch, Ray (N.D. Ga.)), the Court affirmed the defendant's ACCA-enhanced sentence. Judge Branch delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Judge Ray joined, and Judge Newsom joined in all but Part III.A. On appeal, defendant argued that he was not ACCA because there was insufficient [...]
In United States v. Moss, 17-10473 (July 22, 2021) (en banc), the Court vacated its order granting rehearing en banc, and reinstated the panel's opinion in light of the Supreme Court's opinion in Borden v. United States, 141 S. Ct. 1817 (2021). The reinstated panel opinion held that Georgia aggravated assault did not satisfy the elements clause [...]
In United States v. Carrasquillo, 19-14143 (July 14, 2021) (Jordan, Newsom, Tjoflat), the Court affirmed defendant's 60-month sentence for conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. Defendant first argued that the district court erred by failing to elicit objections after imposing his sentence, thereby committing Jones error. The Court [...]
In United States v. Colston, No. 19-13518 (July 13, 2021) (Grant, Tjoflat, Ed Carnes), the Court affirmed defendant's convictions for knowingly possessing with intent to distribute 2 kg of cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), and conspiring to distribute cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846. Defendant walked into a post office, showed a tracking [...]
In United States v. Stancil, 19-12001 (July 13, 2021) (Branch, Grant, Tjoflat), the Court affirmed the defendant's ACCA-enhanced conviction and sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Defendant was pulled over for speeding one night. When officers approached his car, they saw him reach down several times. They also smelled marijuana when defendant lowered [...]
In United States v. Phillips, No. 18-11737 (July 13, 2021) (Jill Pryor, Grant, Royal (MD Ga)), the Court affirmed in part and vacated in part defendant's convictions relating to child pornography. Defendant was charged with, and convicted of: (1) knowingly and intentionally using, persuading, inducing, and enticing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the [...]
In United States v. Leonard, No. 19-14142 (July 8, 2021) (Martin, Grant, Brasher), the Court held that an indictment's failure to set out an element of the offense does not warrant an automatic presumption of prejudice to the defendant. Any such error is subject to the harmless-error inquiry. Defendant was indicted for being a felon in possession [...]
In United States v. Matthews, No. 20-10554 (July 6, 2021) (Wilson, Rosenbaum, Ed Carnes), the Court affirmed the defendant's 57-month sentence for making false statements to a firearms dealer. Defendant objected to the application of enhancements for (1) an offense involving a semiautomatic firearm that is capable of accepting a large capacity magazine, and (2) having [...]