Case Summaries

Criminal Law & Procedure

[07/08] US v. Fuller
In a prosecution for possession of an identification document that appears to be made by or under the authority of the U.S. which is stolen or produced without lawful authority, under 18 U.S.C. section 1028(a)(6), the government does not have to prove that the identification document in question appeared to be issued by a real agency of the U.S.

[07/08] US v. Ray
Revocation of defendant's supervised release based on a claim that defendant was arrested and charged in state court with robbery is affirmed over claims of error regarding the admissibility of a probation officer's hearsay testimony regarding the alleged robbery as being a violation of his Sixth Amendment right to confrontation.

[07/08] US v. Perry
A conviction for possession of a firearm and ammunition by a prohibited person is affirmed over claims of error regarding the court's denial of defendant's motion to suppress based on a search warrant's alleged lack of probable cause.

[07/08] US v. Comstock
A conviction and sentence for being a felon, and drug user, in possession of firearms and ammunition is affirmed over claims of error regarding: 1) denial of defendant's motion to suppress evidence gathered during a warrantless protective sweep of his home and after defendant gave written consent; and 2) the court's application of an Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) sentencing enhancement.

[07/08] US v. Bolivar
Convictions for distributing a small quantity of cocaine and conspiring to sell a large amount are affirmed over claims of error regarding: 1) the sufficiency of the evidence; 2) a variance between the crimes charged and the crime proved at trial; 3) introduction of a recording without identifying the person in the recording; 4) a failure to make a threshold determination of conspiracy in evaluating whether to admit statements under the co-conspirator exception; and 5) the admissibility of post-arrest statements to police that showed his knowledge of drugs arriving from Mexico.

[07/08] Davis v. Grant
Dismissal of a habeas petition is affirmed where a state court's holding, which found that pro se petitioner was not deprived of his Sixth Amendment rights when he was removed from the courtroom for disruptive conduct with no standby counsel appointed to represent him in his absence, was not "contrary to, or ... an unreasonable application of, clearly established" Supreme Court precedent.

[07/08] US v. Wallace
Defendant's conviction for drug- and gun-related offenses is affirmed over claims of error regarding the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction, which alleged the government failed to prove that he held drugs with a commercial purpose. However, the sentence is remanded to give the district court an opportunity to indicate whether it would have imposed a non-Guidelines sentence knowing that it had discretion to deviate from the Guidelines to serve those objectives.

[07/07] Moore v. Quarterman
In a prosecution for capital murder, denial of a certificate of appealability after the district court denied petitioner habeas relief is affirmed over claims of error regarding: 1) the state's withholding of evidence favorable to his cause both as to guilt and punishment; 2) comments made in a second trial referring to a first trial, as being a violation of his right to a presumption of innocence; and 3) ineffective assistance of counsel based on a failure to adequately investigate the facts surrounding the shooting.

[07/07] People v. Logsdon
A conviction and sentence pursuant to a guilty plea to driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs as a felony after three previous convictions for the same offense is affirmed over claims of error regarding the denial of a motion to suppress evidence after defendant was stopped and detained for failure to use a turn signal when switching lanes.

[07/07] US v. Stewart
A district court's conclusion that requiring DNA collection from non-violent felons who are sentenced to probation violates the Fourth Amendment is reversed in light of the circuit court's subsequent decision in US v. Weikert, 504 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2007).

[07/07] US v. Ofray-Campos
Defendants' convictions and sentences stemming from their participation in a multi-drug conspiracy are vacated in part and remanded where: 1) the jury was exposed to extrinsic factual information after it submitted a jury note; 2) the nature of the extrinsic information received by the jury was prejudicial to defendants; 3) but the error was harmless as to some defendants in light of the strength of other evidence against them; 4) a two-level role-in-offense enhancement under section 3B1.1(c) as to one defendant was based on legally insufficient evidence; and 5) the stated grounds for imposing a sentence two and one half times greater than the top of the recommended guidelines range were neither sufficiently particularized nor compelling to survive reasonableness review.

[07/03] Lescher v. Fl. Dep't of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
The elimination of the availability of hardship licenses from Florida Statutes section 322.271(4) for drivers with four DUI convictions does not constitute an ex post facto law.

[07/03] Deren v. Florida
A court of appeals' decision is quashed and the case remanded for reconsideration where: 1) the district court erred in its statement of the elements of a Brady claim; and 2) the Florida Supreme Court has abandoned the four-prong test used in Melendez v. State, 612 So. 2d 1366 (Fla. 1992) in favor of the three-prong test outlined in Strickler v. Greene, 527 U.S. 263 (1999).

[07/03] Hudson v. Florida
A conviction and death sentence for first degree murder are affirmed over claims of error regarding: 1) admission of evidence; 2) prosecutorial misconduct; 3) denial of a special instruction on the heinous, atrocious or cruel aggravator (HAC) charge; 4) fundamental error in the state's argument as to HAC; 5) admission of the victim's girlfriend's testimony that the victim knew he was going to die; 6) the trial court's finding on aggravators, its weighing of sentencing circumstances, and findings for imposing the death penalty; 7) the constitutionality of section 921.141; 8) sufficiency of the evidence; and 9) the proportionality of the sentence.

[07/03] Spann v. Florida
In a prosecution for first degree murder which resulted in a death sentence, denial of defendant's motion for post-conviction relief is affirmed over claims of error regarding ineffective assistance of counsel during both the guilt and penalty phase.

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