Sex Offenders May Challenge Miami Residency Restriction
Several sex offenders challenged on Ex Post Facto grounds a Miami ordinance that bans any “person who has been convicted of any one of several enumerated sexual offenses involving a victim under sixteen years of age from ‘residing within 2,500 feet of any school.’” The Eleventh Circuit held that the sex offenders had adequately alleged…
Resentencing Ordered After Judge Said Defendant “Turned Into A Demon”
Yvonne Hall’s supervised release was revoked and sentenced to 36 months imprisonment. Resentencing is now scheduled after Yvonne Hall’s judge made inappropriate religious comments at sentencing.The following exchange between the judge and the defendant took place at sentencing: Have you ever picked up the Bible? Yvonne Hall : Yes, I have. Court: What have you…
Florida False Imprisonment Conviction Not Necessarily “Crime Of Violence”
Florida false imprisonment under Florida Statute 787.02 does not categorically satisfy the ACCA’s elements clause,” the Eleventh Circuit recently held. United States v. Driver, No. 14-11555 (11th Cir. 2017). False imprisonment under the statute means “forcibly, by threat, or secretly confining, abducting, imprisoning, or restraining another person without lawful authority and against her or his…
Oregon Drug Delivery Conviction Not A Federal “Controlled Substance Offense” For Career Offender Purposes
Oregon drug delivery conviction under Oregon Revised Statutes 475.992(1)(a) is not a “controlled substance offense” under federal law, according to the Ninth Circuit. Sandoval v. Yates, No. 13-71784 (9th Cir. 2017). This is an important case for criminal defendants because of its impact on individuals with career offender enhancements. The court held that Oregon drug delivery…
Attorney Abandonment Claim Remanded For A Hearing
Mark Christeson filed a motion to re-open his habeas proceedings under Rule 60(b) arguing that his attorney’s failure to timely submit his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition (used by state prisoners but similar to a 2255) constituted attorney abandonment. The abandonment issue was key to resolving whether “extraordinary circumstances” existed to warrant granting Rule 60…
Career Offender Enhancement Cannot Be Based On Texas Possession With Intent To Distribute Conviction
United States v. Tanksley – Career Offender Enhancement : Dantana Tanksley was previously convicted in Texas under Section 481.112(a) of the Texas controlled substances act of possessing with intent to distribute a controlled substance. He was later enhanced as a career offender under federal sentencing guidelines. Under the federal sentencing guidelines, an individual can be…
MVRA Restitution And Loss Amount Inadequate, Eleventh Circuit Holds
United States v. Mitchell J. Stein : Mitchell Stein, a former attorney, challenged the district court’s loss and MVRA restitution determination in a mail, wire, and securities fraud prosecution arguing that the Government had failed to demonstrate both factual and legal causation for the loss amount.Using the same standard for Stein’s loss and restitution challenge,…
Child Pornography Sentence Improper Because Judge Treated Guidelines As Binding
Child Pornography is considered one of the serious crimes in sentencing. Roy Perry was sentenced to 151 months for receipt of child pornography. At sentencing, the court stated “I’m probably going to give him a Guideline sentence because it would be really an act of, I don’t know what you call it, defiance, maybe not,…
Burrage Applies Retroactively To Cases On Collateral Review
In Burrage v. United States, 134 S. Ct. 881 (2014), the Supreme Court held that “at least where use of the drug distributed by the defendant is not an independently sufficient cause of the victim’s death or serious bodily injury, a defendant cannot be liable under the penalty enhancement provision of 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(C)…
Supervised Release Cannot Be Revoked After Supervision Term Ends
Anthony Holman’s supervised release was revoked for failing to pay restitution and picking up a new charge. However, the violation petition was not submitted until after Holman’s term of supervision had already expired. No summons was pending at the time either. Generally, whenever a U.S. Probation Officer believes that a defendant has violated his or…