6 results for 'cat:"Fair Trial" AND cat:"Firearms"'.
J. Loken finds a lower court improperly denied a defendant's request for self representation after he was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. The government argued that the defendant was not entitled to demand self representation on the morning of his trial. However, the defendant sufficiently showed in court that he would not engage in "serious and obstructionist misconduct" during the proceedings. Reversed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Loken, Filed On: May 13, 2024, Case #: 23-1547, Categories: fair Trial, firearms, Self Representation
J. Thacker finds the lower court properly denied the defendant's post-trial motion to vacate his conviction or order a new trial. The defendant, convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, believed he deserved a new trial after he learned that the government’s key witness had changed his story two weeks before trial. The government failed to disclose that information. The witness is irrelevant to the jury's decision because the evidence demonstrated that he had been sitting on the magazine, the gun was beside him, and he had a history of illegally possessing firearms. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Thacker, Filed On: March 11, 2024, Case #: 22-4617, Categories: fair Trial, firearms, Witnesses
J. Ballou finds the lower court properly declined to vacate the defendant's plea. The government did not advise the defendant, convicted of aiming a firearm at another person after shooting a gun in the air out of frustration for being kicked out of a club, of the significance of supervised release—that if he were to violate it, he could be subject to additional prison time above the statutory maximum period allowed for the underlying offense. The defendant's substantial rights were not affected because the record does not show that he would have declined to plead guilty if he had been advised about the significance of supervised release. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Ballou, Filed On: January 26, 2024, Case #: 19-4865, Categories: fair Trial, firearms, Plea
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J. Goldberg affirms on appeal a trial justice’s rulings against a defendant arising from his conviction for multiple armed robberies. The defendant argued the trial justice erred by failing to exclude certain statements he made regarding firearms, which he characterized as “hammers,” during a post-arrest police interview. The trial justice noted that the transcript of the interview was “filled with and interspersed with [defendant] talking about buying and selling a gun or guns; a hammer, as he calls it.” The trial justice explained that “these are statements from the defendant’s own mouth,” which “cuts against him.” The justices see no abuse of discretion by the trial court in admitting the statements into evidence. Affirmed.
Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court, Judge: Goldberg, Filed On: June 20, 2023, Case #: 2021-218, Categories: Evidence, fair Trial, firearms