In Pitts v. United States, No. 18-12096 (July 6, 2021) (Luck, Ed Carnes, Marcus), the Court affirmed the denial of Pitts's Johnson-based second or successive § 2255 motion. Pitts was sentenced as an armed career criminal based upon the following prior convictions: (1) a 1978 California conviction for robbery with a firearm; (2) a 1982 California conviction for robbery [...]
In In re Grand Jury Subpoena, No. 21-11596 (June 25, 2021) (Jordan, Newsom, Lagoa), the Court upheld an order granting the government’s motion to compel an attorney’s testimony to a grand jury. The attorney was the lawyer in charge of the campaign of a political candidate who was under criminal investigation. While the attorney claimed [...]
In United States v. Henry, No. 18-15251 (June 21, 2021) (William Pryor, Grant, Antoon (MD Fla)), the Court vacated the panel opinion upon a petition for rehearing by the government and affirmed the defendant’s sentence. Contrary to the panel’s original opinion, the panel now held that USSG 5G1.3 is advisory, not mandatory. After Booker, all [...]
In United States v. Nunez et al., No. 19-14181 (June 17, 2021) (William Pryor, Grant, Tjoflat), the Court affirmed the defendants’ MDLEA convictions. First, the Court held that there was jurisdiction because the vessel was one without nationality. The “vessel without nationality” definitions in the statute were not exclusive, and the vessel here lacked nationality [...]
In United States v. Anderson, No. 18-13947 (June 15, 2021) (Wilson, Branch, Julie Carnes), the Court affirmed the defendant’s mail fraud, false statements, and money laundering convictions. First, the Court held that the district court did not err by asking the defendant whether he knew that he had a right to testify and whether he [...]
Text of the letter is below; you may read the original letter in PDF format. The Honorable Nancy Pelosi Speaker House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 The Honorable Mitch McConnell Senate Majority Leader United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 The Honorable Kevin McCarthy Minority Leader House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 The Honorable [...]
In United States v. Jones, No. 17-12240 (Oct. 25, 2018) (Marcus, Tjoflat, Newsom), the Court held that Florida second-degree murder is a violent felony under the elements clause of the Armed Career Criminal Act. The Court rejected the defendant's primary argument that the use of poison did not constitute the use of physical force. Prior [...]
In United States v. Carthen, No. 16-17653 (Oct. 25, 2018) (Martin, William Pryor, Baldock), the Court affirmed the defendants' robbery and firearms convictions and sentences over multiple challenges. First, the Court found sufficient evidence that one of the defendants conspired to commit a robbery and voluntarily participated in the robbery with a firearm. Second, the [...]
In United States v. Garcia, No. 14-11845 (Oct. 19, 2018) (Marcus, Wilson, Graham (S.D. Ohio)), the Court affirmed the defendant's tax-related convictions. The primary issue was whether reversal was required because the district judge resumed trial without the presence of either the defendant or defense counsel for 3 to 10 minutes, during which time the [...]
PUBLIC NOTICE CONCERNING CJA PANEL MEMBERSHIP The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida is seeking applicants for the SDFL Criminal Justice Act Panel (CJA Panel) for a three-year term beginning October 1, 2018. The CJA Panel is comprised of private attorneys who are authorized to serve as appointed defense counsel pursuant [...]