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 [...]

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 After previously issuing this unpublished opinion without oral argument, the Court granted the government’s motion to publish the opinion.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 [...]

In Somers v. United States, No. 19-11484 (Apr. 25, 2023) (Jill Pryor, Anderson, Marcus), the Court affirmed Mr. Somers's ACCA-enhanced sentence. Mr. Somers argued that his prior conviction for Florida aggravated assault with a deadly weapon could not serve as an ACCA predicate because it can be committed with a mens rea of recklessness. The Court disagreed, [...]

In United States v. Rolle, No. 19-11354 (Apr. 14, 2023) (Wilson, Jordan, Brasher), the Court affirmed the district court's denial of Mr. Rolle's motion to dismiss the indictment. Mr. Rolle was charged with one count of conspiracy to encourage and induce aliens to enter the United States, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(v)(I); 16 counts of [...]