173 results for 'cat:"Firearms" AND cat:"Sentencing"'.
Per curiam. The Eighth Circuit finds a lower court properly dismissed a defendant’s Speedy Trial Act claims. The defendant, who was convicted for two federal arms crimes and sentenced to 120 months in prison, alongside a prior consecutive 600-month sentence, argued that the government violated established time limits for prosecution. However, the government presented sufficient evidence in court that the delay was the result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: October 30, 2023, Case #: 22-2645, Categories: firearms, sentencing
J. Hixson finds the lower court properly convicted defendant of first degree murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon for shooting a man in a store parking lot after an altercation. While defendant argues his sentence of life without parole to be served consecutively to 30 years for the firearms conviction is excessive, the instant court finds the lower court properly sentenced him as a repeat offender. Affirmed.
Court: Tennessee Court of Appeals, Judge: Hixson, Filed On: October 26, 2023, Case #: W2022-01796-CCA-R3-CD, Categories: firearms, Murder, sentencing
J. Mathis finds the trial court properly imposed an enhanced sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act after defendant was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm. His previous juvenile conviction for possession of a firearm while committing second-degree murder qualifies as a crime of violence under the Act. Affirmed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Mathis, Filed On: October 26, 2023, Case #: 22-1840, Categories: firearms, Juvenile Law, sentencing
J. Miller finds the trial court properly sentenced the 18-year-old defendant on his convictions for murder, assault with a firearm and shooting at an inhabited building. The court of appeals remanded the original 40-years-to-life sentence, which was changed to 25-to-life after certain enhancements were dismissed after considering defendant’s developmental issues. The trial court fully considered its non-dismissal of the firearm enhancement. Defendant does not claim the court abused its discretion and no abuse of discretion is found. According to the record, it is not reasonably probable the court would have reached a different result if it believed certain statutory mitigating circumstances also applied. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Miller, Filed On: October 26, 2023, Case #: A166053, Categories: firearms, Murder, sentencing
Per curiam, the Seventh Circuit finds that the lower court properly sentenced defendant to 120 months in prison for unlawfully possessing firearms after imposing two four-level enhancements. The record supports a finding that defendant trafficked arms to a person whom he had reason to believe would use them for unlawful conduct, and because his offense involved eight firearms. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: October 23, 2023, Case #: 22-3070, Categories: firearms, sentencing
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J. King finds the lower court correctly denied the defendant a writ of coram nobis relief. The defendant argued that his 1993 conviction was predicated on a charge for shooting a gun at a police officer that no longer is classified as a crime of violence. The defendant failed to show that the charge in question was the only reason for his sentence. Affirmed
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: King, Filed On: October 20, 2023, Case #: 20-7579, Categories: firearms, sentencing
J. Wynn finds the lower court improperly identified first-degree assault as a violent felony for the Armed Career Criminal Act. The defendant correctly argued that first-degree assault was an indivisible offense with alternative means and that because one of the means could be committed in a way that would not constitute a categorically violent felony under the force clause of ACCA’s violent-felony definition, first-degree assault did not qualify as a predicate violent felony. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wynn, Filed On: October 19, 2023, Case #: 20-6957, Categories: firearms, sentencing, Assault
J. Menetrez finds that defendant's convictions for possessing an unregistered, loaded firearm and for possessing a controlled substance while armed with a firearm pass constitutional tests. But the trial court erred in imposing two sentences for the offenses, as the crimes were completed by a single act. Vacated in part.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Menetrez, Filed On: October 18, 2023, Case #: E079475, Categories: Drug Offender, firearms, sentencing
J. Nguyen finds that the district court properly denied defendant's motion in which he argued that his conviction for using a firearm during a crime of violence and its mandatory consecutive sentence should be vacated because his predicate crime, voluntary manslaughter, does not qualify as a crime of violence. Voluntary manslaughter has the same mental state as murder in that it contains the intent to commit "a violent act against another or recklessness with extreme indifference to human life." Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Nguyen, Filed On: October 17, 2023, Case #: 17-15104, Categories: firearms, sentencing, Manslaughter
J. Baltodano finds that defendant's prior conviction for possessing a firearm for the benefit of a criminal street gang should have qualified as a prior strike under the Three Strikes law. The offense was a serious felony under the the Three Strikes law at the time of conviction and still is today, regardless of whether the gang-enhancement still applies. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Baltodano, Filed On: October 16, 2023, Case #: B323282, Categories: firearms, sentencing
J. Mathis finds the limited remand by this court to sentence defendant under the Armed Career Criminal Act was based on binding precedent and properly considered all relevant arguments. Therefore, the lower court was prevented from considering any new arguments as to whether the Act applied to defendant's 14 previous convictions and it properly resentenced him. Affirmed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Mathis, Filed On: October 12, 2023, Case #: 21-6250, Categories: firearms, sentencing
J. McMullen finds the lower court improperly sentenced defendant in this matter of theft, drugs and firearms. Defendant was convicted of possession of marijuana with intent to sell or deliver, possession of a firearm with intent to go armed during the commission of a dangerous felony, theft of property up to $1,000, and possession of unlawful drug paraphernalia for selling drugs car-to-car at a Sonic drive-in restaurant, and being found with marijuana and a stolen firearm in his backpack. Defendant received an effective five-year sentence to be served in confinement, but because he was eligible for probation for the theft and drug-related convictions, the instant court finds the lower court did not properly consider alternative sentencing. The matter is remanded for resentencing. Reversed.
Court: Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: McMullen, Filed On: October 9, 2023, Case #: W2022-01041-CCA-R3-CD, Categories: Drug Offender, firearms, sentencing
J. Loken finds a lower court properly sentenced a defendant to 120 months in prison for being a felon in possession of two fully loaded firearms. The defendant argued that the lower court improperly applied a four- level enhancement to his sentence. However, the government sufficiently showed in court that he used his weapon in a separate felony crime. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Loken, Filed On: October 6, 2023, Case #: 22-3294, Categories: firearms, sentencing
Per curiam, the Fifth Circuit finds the district court properly denied the inmate’s motion for a sentence reduction. Convicted for using, carrying or possessing a firearm during and in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. A cited change to the applicable sentencing framework is non-retroactive and does not qualify as an “extraordinary and compelling reason” for a sentence reduction. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: October 5, 2023, Case #: 22-40373, Categories: Drug Offender, firearms, sentencing
Per curiam, the Fifth Circuit finds the district court properly convicted defendant by guilty plea to possession of a firearm by a felon. The firearms were found in defendant’s vehicle after he was pulled over for having false license plates. Prior burglary convictions used as sentencing enhancements are not required to have been tried by a jury in order to be applied. Nothing in the relevant, guiding case affects how to compare a state statute of conviction with a federal enhancement. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: September 25, 2023, Case #: 22-10253, Categories: firearms, sentencing
J. Wiener finds the district court improperly reapplied a firearm enhancement to defendant’s sentence for his guilty plea conviction for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute meth. Upon arrest, defendant was found sitting near a firearm, supporting constructing possession. Defendant offered rebuttal evidence at trial to the government’s argument that a temporal and spatial relation existed between the weapon, the drug trafficking activity and the defendant. This evidence was not properly considered at resentencing. Vacated and remanded.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Wiener, Filed On: September 8, 2023, Case #: 22-10452, Categories: Drug Offender, firearms, sentencing
J. Bush finds the trial court properly applied a managerial role sentencing enhancement after defendant was convicted of drug trafficking. Although he was not the ringleader of the trafficking operation, he received a larger share of profits than others in the outfit and coordinated meetings to exchange wholesale shipments of heroin for cash. Meanwhile, a firearm enhancement was also proper based on evidence obtained from jail calls defendant made to his girlfriend, during which he told her a gun was hidden under the porch of his home, a statement sufficient to prove constructive possession of the weapon. Affirmed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Bush, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 22-5600, Categories: Drug Offender, firearms, sentencing
J. Molaison finds that defendant was properly convicted of two counts of armed robbery for a carjacking and sentenced to 50 years' imprisonment with a consecutive five-year hard labor sentence for the firearm enhancement. The sentences are within the statutory guidelines, and the evidence shows defendant entered the victim's car, pointed a gun at the passenger's forehead, and drove over the driver's foot when driving away. After engaging in a high speed chase, defendant crashed the vehicle into a utility pole and resisted arrest. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Molaison, Filed On: August 30, 2023, Case #: 23-KA-11, Categories: firearms, Robbery, sentencing
J. Nalbandian finds the trial court properly used a state drug conviction to set defendant's base sentencing level for possession of an illegal firearm. Federal sentencing guidelines do not require the use of the Controlled Substances Act and give courts discretion to use a qualifying state court conviction. Meanwhile, the trial court properly added a sentencing enhancement for reckless endangerment because defendant's conduct, which included firing the gun outside his home all day and briefly barricading himself in the property when police arrived, unquestionably put police and bystanders in danger. Affirmed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Nalbandian, Filed On: August 29, 2023, Case #: 22-1280, Categories: Drug Offender, firearms, sentencing
J. Tailor finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and sentenced him to 7.5 years in prison. The evidence was sufficient to support the conviction and the court's use of his prior conviction to enhance his sentence was not impermissible. Affirmed.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Tailor, Filed On: August 28, 2023, Case #: 211557, Categories: firearms, sentencing
J. Clay finds the trial court erroneously failed to provide its own analysis and instead used the "crack-to-powder" ratio set by Congress to set the base offense level for defendant's sentence on drug and weapons charges. The trial court "failed to appreciate the scope of its discretion" to determine the proper ratio. The trial court also failed to respond to defendant's argument that anything other than a 1:1 ratio would result in an excessive sentence and, therefore, his sentence will be vacated and the case will be remanded for resentencing. Vacated in part.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Clay, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 21-1824, Categories: Drug Offender, firearms, sentencing
J. Hamilton finds that the lower court properly sentenced defendant to an above-guideline prison term for possession of a firearm as a felon. The record shows the court considered rehabilitation as a reason for extending defendant's sentence, but this was not the judge's primary consideration in deciding defendant's sentence. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Hamilton, Filed On: August 22, 2023, Case #: 22-2275, Categories: firearms, sentencing
[Substitute opinion.] J. Stegner finds that testimony and a certified judgment of conviction in a previous case were sufficient for the district court to find that defendant had been convicted of a prior felony and therefore unlawfully possessed a firearm. Also, defendant received a persistent violator sentencing enhancement on the basis of a second felony which the district court then acknowledged had not been proven. The enhancement stands because defendant did not accept the district court offer of a new trial as a remedy. Affirmed.
Court: Idaho Supreme Court, Judge: Stegner, Filed On: August 18, 2023, Case #: 48825, Categories: firearms, sentencing
J. deGravelles finds the trial court properly denied defendant’s motion to suppress evidence found in his house and truck, including a firearm and marijuana. After defendant was pulled over under the possible suspicion of having been involved in an earlier shooting, officers discovered marijuana and a firearm after defendant had given consent. The court’s decision, based on the factors governing the determination of defendant’s consent, is plausible. The court’s application of sentencing enhancements based on the Armed Career Criminal Act was improper as it cannot be shown that the predicate offenses occurred on separate occasions. Affirmed in part. Reversed in part. Vacated in part and remanded.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: deGravelles, Filed On: August 17, 2023, Case #: 21-10966, Categories: firearms, Search, sentencing
J. Benjamin finds that the lower court improperly applied a sentence enhancement for possession of a firearm in connection with another felony offense, specifically felony possession of drugs. Defendant, found unconscious in his car grasping a pistol, did not use the firearm to facilitate his possession of a small amount of cocaine in his pocket. Vacated in part.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Benjamin , Filed On: August 17, 2023, Case #: 22-4284, Categories: Drug Offender, firearms, sentencing
J. Gregory finds the lower court improperly abused its discretion in denying the defendant's motion for a sentence reduction. The defendant would be subject to two five-year mandatory minimums, rather than a five-year and a twenty-five-year mandatory minimum if sentenced for his two firearm possession in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime offenses today due to the First Step Act. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Gregory , Filed On: August 16, 2023, Case #: 21-7752, Categories: firearms, sentencing, Prisoners' Rights