1,653 results for 'cat:"Sentencing"'.
J. Hull finds that the district court properly sentenced defendant to 96 months in prison following his guilty plea to possession of a firearm by a felon. The district court correctly calculated the base offense level in determining the advisory guidelines range for defendant's sentence. Defendant's two prior Georgia convictions for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon qualified as crimes of violence under the enumerated offenses clause of the statute. Defendant's argument that the Georgia offense is broader than the generic offense of aggravated assault is foreclosed by the earlier 11th Circuit panel ruling in United States v. Morales-Alonso. Affirmed.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Hull, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 23-10280, Categories: Firearms, sentencing
[Consolidated.] Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court improperly sentenced one of five defendants in an extended-family sex-trafficking organization convicted of smuggling young women from Mexico to the U.S., including minors, and forcing them into prostitution. Procedural error occurred in sentencing Abel Romero-Melendez in excess of the maximum allowed on a count charging illegal reentry, and remand is necessary for resentencing. For the others, sufficient evidence supported their convictions and their challenge to jury instructions lacked merit. Affirmed in part.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 22-333(L), Categories: Jury, sentencing, Prostitution
J. Riedmann finds the trial court properly convicted defendant by no-contest plea for distribution of meth and fentanyl. A confidential informant purchased drugs from defendant on three occasions and all evidence supports the convictions. Defendant was sentenced, cumulatively, to up to 14 years in prison. Though she says the sentences are excessive, all factors were properly considered and the appeal waiver provision bars defendant from appealing her sentence. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Riedmann , Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: A-23-910, Categories: Drug Offender, sentencing, Plea
J. Lee finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of being a felon in possession of a firearm but improperly sentenced him with an enhancement for possession of an explosive. The application of a higher base offense level effectively punishes him twice for the same conduct. Reversed in part.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Lee, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 22-2607, Categories: sentencing, Weapons
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J. Jackson-Akiwumi finds that the lower court improperly enhanced defendant's sentence for possession of a firearm under the Armed Career Criminal Act. Defendant's prior Florida conviction for aggravated assault no longer qualifies as a violent felony after the Florida Supreme Court's decision in Somers v. U.S., which ruled that the Florida crime of aggravated assault covers reckless conduct. To qualifies as a violent felony, a prior crime must be intentional not reckless. Vacated.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Jackson-Akiwumi, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 21-1325, Categories: Firearms, sentencing
Per curiam, the circuit finds the district court properly convicted defendant for Hobbs Act robbery and knowingly discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. Security footage, as well as multiple witness accounts, support the conviction for defendant's armed robbery of the night club where he worked as a security guard. The trial court properly admitted evidence of a prior armed robbery and applied the career offender sentencing enhancement. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 23-20021, Categories: Firearms, Robbery, sentencing
J. Liu holds that the appeals court erred in limiting the resentencing authority of a trial court that had stricken a firearm enhancement. A trial court may impose a lesser included, uncharged enhancement that is supported by findings, even if the enhancement is from somewhere in the penal code other than the firearm enhancement statute. Reversed.
Court: California Supreme Court, Judge: Liu, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: S275940, Categories: Firearms, Murder, sentencing
J. Brasher remands defendant's appeal of his 20-year conspiracy and wire fraud sentence back to the 11th Circuit to consider whether the sentence is substantively unreasonable and whether the district court committed procedural errors in arriving at the sentence. The sentence was handed down after defendant received a life sentence for committing murder while on probation. The 11th Circuit overrules its previous precedent of vacating any sentence imposed by a district court without an explanation. The district court did not commit a plain error when it sentenced defendant and its failure to explain its reasoning for the sentence did not affect defendant's substantial rights. The district court's reasoning was obvious from the record.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Brasher, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 22-10742, Categories: sentencing
J. Swiney finds the lower court properly dismissed defendant’s petition for writ of mandamus on grounds that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction. Defendant was convicted of first degree murder and attempted first degree murder, and sentenced to life imprisonment. He filed his petition with a chancery court, asking for the judgment to be expunged, as it was not properly endorsed with the date received. Though defendant argues he filed the petition for the court to compel the clerk of the criminal court to expunge what he claims is an illegal sentence, the lower court found that he was effectively challenging the legality of his sentence, which is outside the authority of the trial court; the instant court agrees. Affirmed.
Court: Tennessee Court of Appeals, Judge: Swiney, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: M2023-01016-COA-R3-CV, Categories: Murder, sentencing, Jurisdiction
J. Luckert finds a lower court properly dismissed a defendant's wrongful conviction claims against the state. The defendant, who was sentenced to time served for the shooting death of another person, argued that he is entitled to compensation for a conviction and prison term for involuntary manslaughter. However, the state presented sufficient evidence in court that he is not entitled to monetary relief for his own conduct and conviction. Affirmed.
Court: Kansas Supreme Court, Judge: Luckert, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 126062, Categories: Firearms, sentencing, Manslaughter
J. Standridge finds a lower court properly convicted and sentenced a defendant for first- degree felony murder, aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated battery. The defendant, who serves a hard 25 life sentence and consecutive 13 months in prison, argued that the lower court erred in allowing the State to submit alternative means of aggravated kidnapping, and that evidence of was insufficient to support his conviction. However, the State presented sufficient evidence in court that "taking or confining" does not support alternative means of kidnapping or aggravated kidnapping. Affirmed.
Court: Kansas Supreme Court, Judge: Standridge, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 125685, Categories: Murder, sentencing, Kidnapping
J. McKeague finds the trial court properly applied a career offender enhancement to defendant's sentence because his previous Ohio robbery conviction qualifies as a crime of violence. Under this court's previous ruling, Ohio robbery is not considered "generic" robbery under federal sentencing guidelines, but meets the criteria for generic extortion, which always involves the use of force; therefore, the enhancement was properly applied. Affirmed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: McKeague, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 23-3466, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Robbery, sentencing
J. Powers finds that the lower court properly classified defendant as a risk level two sex offender after adding "points" to his assessment for sex crimes committed against a stranger when he grabbed the victim's buttocks and masturbated in front of her at a bus stop. Without direct evidence that defendant knew the victim, the inference that they were not acquainted was reasonable. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Powers, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: CV-23-1315, Categories: Evidence, sentencing, Sex Offender
J. Pritzker finds that defendant was properly sentenced based on his guilty plea to aggravated vehicular homicide and aggravated driving while intoxicated for driving the wrong way on a state highway and hitting an oncoming vehicle, killing one occupant and severely injuring another. Defendant points to his limited criminal history and that he had been in grief following his daughter's death in a car accident the year before, but the negotiated sentence took into account the life-altering impact this event had on him and his victims' families. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Pritzker, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 112475, Categories: sentencing, Vehicular Homicide
J. Walker reverses the lower court's original order sentencing defendant to 2 to10 years in prison after entering a Kennedy plea the previous February for the death of another motorist she caused in 2014 while driving under the influence. The judge committed plain error and violated Rule 11 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure when he participated in the plea negotiations and caused defendant to detrimentally rely upon his assurance she would be sentenced on home confinement in exchange for her plea. Reversed.
Court: West Virginia Supreme Court Of Appeals, Judge: Walker, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 22-672, Categories: sentencing, Dui
J. Aarons finds that the lower court properly sentenced defendant in absentia and outside his plea deal after he cut off his ankle bracelet and absconded because defendant had been expressly advised by the court that both could occur if he failed to show up for sentencing. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Aarons, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 113291, Categories: sentencing, Assault, Plea
J. Lynch finds that the lower court properly classified defendant as a risk level three sex offender on remand from the finding that he had received ineffective assistance because his presumptive level two designation was automatically raised to level three in light of his 1993 conviction for attempted rape. Meanwhile, he was deemed a sexually violent offender and a predicate sex offender. Affirmed
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Lynch, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 531683, Categories: sentencing, Sex Offender
J. Reynolds Fitzgerald finds that defendant was properly denied reclassification after being designated a risk level three sex offender for raping two minors. Defendant, who had been held in civil confinement for violating parole, and who went back to prison after being convicted of an aggravated family offense, points to the fact that he was 62 years old, but he failed to demonstrate that he completed sex offender treatment. Meanwhile, defendant's lengthy criminal history accumulated other convictions. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Reynolds Fitzgerald, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 535716, Categories: sentencing, Sex Offender
J. Mooney rejects petitioner’s appeal of his overall post-prison supervision term. “Petitioner presents no authority that would allow us to address a proportionality challenge in this context.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Mooney, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: A180327, Categories: sentencing
J. St. Eve finds that the lower court properly sentenced defendant to 96 months in prison for stealing 25 firearms, of which police only recovered eight. The court's speculation that the missing firearms were "likely in the hands of other felons" does not amount to impermissible speculation requiring the court to vacate his sentence. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: St. Eve, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 23-1564, Categories: Firearms, sentencing
J. Johnson finds that defendant was properly sentenced to 30 years imprisonment on his conviction for possession of pornography involving juveniles under the age of 13. In this case, defendant was found in possession of over 800 photographs of children. Further, the sentence was not the maximum allowed, defendant did not show remorse for his actions, and he had a previous conviction of a sexual offense toward his daughter. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Johnson, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 23-KA-427, Categories: sentencing, Sex Offender