In United States v. Litzky, No. 20-10709 (Nov. 23, 2021) (Jordan, Newsom, Ed Carnes), the Court affirmed defendant's convictions for possessing child pornography, producing it, and conspiring to do the same. Defendant raised two issues on appeal: (1) the district court violated her constitutional right to present a defense by excluding expert testimony related to her intellectual disability; and (2) her below-Guidelines sentence was substantively unreasonable. The district court found that the expert's proffered testimony failed to focus on the defendant's specific state of mind at the time of the charged offenses.  Therefore, because it failed to show how the defendant was unable to form the required mens rea, it would only serve to confuse the jury.  The Court agreed, finding that defendant's proffered expert testimony was not keyed to any legally acceptable defense theory.   The Court found that the defendant had failed to demonstrate a compelling reason for making an exception to the expert witness rule in FRE 702.  It reasoned that the defendant's proffered expert testimony was more akin to justification and excuse rather than a legally acceptable theory of lack of mens rea.  The Court also found that defendant failed to show that her proffered expert testimony bore persuasive assurances [...]

In United States v. Grady, No. 20-14341 (Nov. 22, 2021) (Branch, Grant, Ed Carnes), the Court affirmed defendants' convictions and sentences for conspiracy, destruction of property on a naval installation, depredation of government property, and trespass. Defendants, members of the Plowshares Movement--equipped with spray paint, bolt cutters, hammers, blood, banners, crime scene tape, Go-Pro cameras, and others tools--illegally entered the Kings Bay naval base, intending to engage in symbolic disarmament as part of their faith.  They spray-painted numerous anti-nuclear and religious messages at various locations inside the base, poured bottles of human blood at various locations, taped an "indictment" outlining their complaints to a door of one of the buildings, defaced various monuments within the base, and entered restricted areas to hang banners protesting the morality of nuclear weapons and pray.  They were arrested and indicted on charges of: conspiracy; destruction of property on a naval installation; depredation of government property; and trespass. All defendants moved to dismiss the indictment, arguing that their prosecution violated the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act ("RFRA").  Specifically, they asserted that their actions at the Kings Bay naval base were “in accordance with their deeply held religious beliefs that nuclear weapons are immoral and illegal,” and [...]

In United States v. Ramirez, No.  20-10564 (Nov. 1, 2021) (Wilson, Rosenbaum, Hull), the Court vacated the defendant's sentence and remanded. Defendant purchased firearms and firearm parts and components, often through straw purchasers, and sold them throughout Colombia.  Six firearms found themselves into the hands of members of the National Liberation Army ("ELN"), which the U.S. State Department has designated a foreign terrorist organization.  Defendant pleaded guilty to knowingly providing material support to the ELN, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2339B(a)(1) and 2. At sentencing, defendant challenged the application of the terrorism enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 3A1.4.  He argued that § 3A1.4 required that the government prove not only his material support to the ELN, but also that his offense conduct was "calculated" to influence, affect, or retaliate against the Colombian government.  Defendant claimed that his motive was to profit financially, not to retaliate against the Colombian government.  The district court overruled defendant's objections, suggesting that the court believed that the mere fact that defendant pleaded guilty to knowingly providing material support to a known terrorist organization per se satisfied § 3A1.4's "calculated" or specific intent requirement. On appeal, the Court vacated the application of the § 3A1.4 enhancement.  The structure of § 3A1.4 establishes [...]

In United States v. Wheeler, No. 17-15003 (Oct. 21, 2021) (Wilson, Lagoa, Brasher) (per curiam), the Court reversed a judgment of acquittal for two defendants and affirmed the convictions and sentences for three defendants involved in a telemarketing scheme that tricked investors into making stock purchases. First, notwithstanding the district court’s judgment of acquittal, the Court found that the evidence was sufficient to support the substantive mail and wire fraud convictions.  Although not overwhelming, and some misrepresentations to the investors did not affect the nature of the bargain under Takhalov, the evidence was sufficient for a jury to find that the defendants intended to defraud the investors.  The evidence was also sufficient as to conspiracy because, even if they did not know the extent of the fraud, the evidence was sufficient that the defendants knew the objective of the conspiracy and decided to join it. Second, the Court found that the evidence was sufficient to support the convictions for the other three defendants.  The evidence was sufficient that one defendant aided and abetting a transaction, even if he did not personally participate in it, by discouraging the victim from going to the authorities.  As to another count, the evidence was [...]

In United States v. Giron, No. 20-14018 (Newsom, Lagoa, Anderson) (Oct. 13, 2021), the Court—without oral argument or defense counsel—affirmed the denial of a pro se motion for compassionate release. First, the Court held that the district court did not err by relying on the policy statement in USSG 1B1.13.  The Court held in Bryant that the policy statement binds district courts in their determination as to whether “extraordinary and compelling” reasons exist.  The defendant’s medical conditions, including high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and coronary artery disease, were manageable in prison notwithstanding the pandemic, and so he did not satisfy the criteria in Application Note 1(A).  And the defendant could not invoke the catchall provision in Application Note 1(D) because, under Bryant, only the BOP Director could invoke that provision. Second, and relying on its recent decision in Tinker, the Court held that it is not an abuse of discretion for a court to deny relief based solely on a lack of “extraordinary and compelling” reasons, without considering danger to the public or the 3553(a) factors.  Before granting relief, a court must find that all three criteria are satisfied, so it may deny relief based on a lack of extraordinary [...]

In United States v. Perry, No. 16-11358 (Sept. 29, 2021) (Grant, Marcus, Axon (N.D. Ala.)), the Court affirmed the defendants' convictions and sentences. Defendants were indicted on numerous charges related to their involvement in a multi-year, multi-state drug distribution organization--namely, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute in excess of 5kg of cocaine and in excess of 280g of cocaine base.  They proceeded to trial and were found guilty.  Defendant Perry was sentenced to 240 months in prison while Defendant Ragin was sentenced to 180 months in prison. On appeal, Defendant Perry argued that the district court erroneously admitted the testimony of DEA task force officer Lee because Lee was not properly qualified as an expert, and because his opinion testimony improperly blurred the line between expert and lay witness testimony and drew impermissible inferences for the jury.  Lee was qualified as an expert "in coded drug language and methods of trafficking, as well as the manufacture of crack cocaine from powder cocaine," and testified extensively as to the meaning of certain words and phrases used in numerous intercepted phone calls that were introduced at trial. The Court first found that Lee was properly qualified as an expert in interpreting code words [...]