171 results for 'cat:"Firearms" AND cat:"Sentencing"'.
Per curiam, the Fifth Circuit finds the district court improperly sentenced defendant on his guilty plea conviction for purchasing firearms by false statement. Defendant, an American citizen, purchased firearms for Mexican citizens, and was sentenced in part for furnishing firearms to "prohibited persons." The government failed to meet its burden of proving that he bought the firearms with knowledge that they would be transferred to a “prohibited person” as statutorily defined. Vacated.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: 23-50069, Categories: firearms, sentencing
J. Golemon finds the trial court properly revoked defendant's deferred adjudication community supervision. Convicted by guilty plea as a habitual offender for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, defendant was found to have violated the terms of his supervision and was sentenced to 45 years in prison. Counsel has found no arguable grounds for relief and defendant has filed no response. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Golemon , Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 09-23-00184-CR, Categories: firearms, Probation, sentencing
J. Pryor finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of being a felon in possession of a firearm and sentenced him to 96 months in prison. The arresting officers' testimony supported an enhancement for creating a substantial bodily risk to others, and the lower court reasonably considered defendant's mitigation arguments. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Pryor, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 22-2764, Categories: firearms, 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
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
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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. 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. 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. Welch finds the trial court properly convicted defendant, by no-contest plea, for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, sentencing him to 6 to 8 years in prison. After responding to an early morning report of gunshots, officers found a bullet in the flat tire of a vehicle involved in the altercation. The gun connected to the bullet was later found in defendant's girlfriend's vehicle during a traffic stop. All sentencing factors were properly considered, including defendant's criminal record and claims of posttraumatic stress disorder. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Welch , Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: A-23-817, Categories: Evidence, firearms, sentencing
J. Hester vacates defendant's habitual offender adjudications and sentences after being found guilty on counts of firearm possession and obstruction of justice. Defendant's prior convictions for aggravated battery and aggravated criminal damage to property should not have been used "as both a predicate to the instant firearm offenses and a prior conviction for purposes of enhancing those same offenses under the habitual offender law." Vacated in part.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Hester, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 2023KA1082, Categories: firearms, sentencing
J. Rovner finds that the lower court properly sentenced defendant to 120 months in prison for possession of a firearm as a felon after rejecting a binding plea agreement providing for a 96-month sentence. Defendant was fully aware that the acceptance of defendant's guilty plea did not ensure the acceptance of the binding plea agreement, and there is no merit to the claim that the court improperly inserted itself into the plea negotiation process. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Rovner, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: 22-2364, Categories: firearms, sentencing, Plea
J. Stevens upholds a trial court judgment denying the appeal of a convicted felon whose eight-year suspended sentence for illegal possession of a firearm was revoked. Defense counsel found no genuine issues to justify an appeal, and, upon review of the record, no reversible error exists. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: Stevens, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: 06-23-157-CR, Categories: firearms, sentencing, Restitution
J. Thompson finds that defendant was properly resentenced to the same maximum sentences on each of his five counts related to drug and gun convictions. The sentences are within the statutory range, and the record shows that defendant had a long and continued history of criminal activity and convictions spanning over 30 years. Further, defendant was arrested for the charges he is currently appealing while he was already on parole. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Thompson , Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 55,592-KA, Categories: Drug Offender, firearms, sentencing
J. Rossman finds that the lower court properly sentenced defendant for a felony firearm possession conviction. Defendant claims that the lower court incorrectly applied a two-level enhancement to his sentence, which the lower court said was due to his "reckless endangerment during flight." There is body camera footage of defendant's attempt to flee law enforcement that shows him running in front of an occupied vehicle, as well as his gun going off during the encounter, that support the lower court's findings of reckless endangerment. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Rossman, Filed On: April 5, 2024, Case #: 22-4096, Categories: firearms, sentencing
J. McCullough finds the lower court improperly reversed a defendant’s conviction for use of a firearm in the commission of a felon. The defendant fired a shotgun at an open window, badly wounding his girlfriend. He was indicted for several felonies; the most serious of those was aggravated malicious wounding, carrying the possibility of a life sentence. The defense strategy at trial was to contest only one issue: whether the defendant fired the gun with malice instead of accidentally or recklessly. The defendant pleaded not guilty to the other crimes but didn’t contest them when the evidence came in. The “approbate and reprobate” doctrine bars the defendant’s attempt to challenge the sufficiency of the evidence on the charge of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Ends of justice may help a convicted defendant to overcome a conviction where his lawyer failed to object or raised an issue too late, but it doesn’t cover intentional, strategic choices like this one. Reversed.
Court: Virginia Supreme Court, Judge: McCullough , Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 230343 , Categories: Evidence, firearms, sentencing
J. Wright finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for aggravated assault against a public servant. A motorist who defendant threatened to shoot reported the incident. Patrol vehicle video shows defendant shot at the officer when he arrived. Evidence did not raise a fact issue that would have allowed the jury to conclude defendant was guilty of the lesser-included offense of reckless conduct. The court properly denied defendant's request for a charge on the lesser-included offense. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Wright , Filed On: April 3, 2024, Case #: 09-23-00045-CR, Categories: firearms, sentencing, Assault
J. Brunner finds the trial court made all required findings before it imposed consecutive sentences for defendant's convictions on drug and gun charges, including a recitation of his extensive criminal history that involved 36 arrests and his refusal to accept responsibility for his conduct. Furthermore, the consecutive sentences were necessary to protect the public from future harm. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Supreme Court, Judge: Brunner, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-1083, Categories: Drug Offender, firearms, sentencing
J. Smith finds the district court properly convicted defendant for charges related to an armed robbery of a drug house, during which three people were non-fatally shot. Defendant says the court improperly accepted his plea, with the sentencing report cross-referencing attempted murder. The court properly accepted the plea and sufficiently explained its sentencing calculation. However, the attempted-murder cross-reference without considering questions of self-defense is clear error. Affirmed in part.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Smith , Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: 23-30149, Categories: Drug Offender, firearms, sentencing
J. Hutchinson finds that the lower court properly found that defendant is not entitled to credit against his sentence for time spent confined at home while on bond, but improperly summarily dismissed his postconviction petition. Time spent on home supervision as a condition of pretrial release is not required to be credited against his sentence. Affirmed in part.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Hutchinson, Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: 230099, Categories: firearms, sentencing, Bail
J. Stranch finds the undecided nature of the constitutionality of felon-in-possession charges based on previous convictions relative to the Second Amendment prevents this court from overturning defendant's conviction for possession of a firearm. Meanwhile, the trial court erroneously applied a four-level enhancement to defendant's sentence for reckless endangerment because there was no evidence to indicate any bystander was placed in a "zone of danger" when he fired his weapon outside. Affirmed in part.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Stranch, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 22-5459, Categories: Constitution, firearms, sentencing
J. Willett finds the district court properly convicted and sentenced defendant, by guilty plea, for being a felon in possession of a firearm based on sufficient evidence. Though the court failed to inform defendant of the punishment range, the presentence report specifically detailed it. The court properly applied career criminal sentencing enhancements for defendant's previous, violent felony convictions. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Willett , Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 23-50040, Categories: firearms, sentencing
J. Davis finds the trial court properly imposed a two-level flight enhancement to defendant's sentence. Although he was not the driver of the vehicle that led police on a high-speed chase through a residential area, he was an active participant in the crime that led to the chase and immediately fled from police when the car eventually crashed, which allowed the court to infer he actively participated in the reckless flight from police. Affirmed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Davis, Filed On: March 11, 2024, Case #: 23-3078, Categories: firearms, sentencing
J. Brennan finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of unlawful possession of a firearm, and sentenced him to 96 months in prison. The verdict was supported by sufficient evidence he possessed a handgun and threw it away while running from police even if no dashcam video captured the handgun. The video does not contradict the police officer's testimony that defendant had the gun in his waistband. Further, the court did not err by sentencing defendant to a below-guidelines sentence. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: 23-1878, Categories: firearms, sentencing
J. St. Eve finds that the lower court properly applied a two-level sentencing enhancement for defendant's possession of a chewing tobacco can full of energetic powder, sealed with adhesive, and outfitted with a fuse. This "firework" qualifies as a destructive device for sentencing purposes on top of his possession of a firearm as a felon. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: St. Eve, Filed On: March 6, 2024, Case #: 23-1942, Categories: firearms, sentencing
J. Ginsburg upholds defendant's seven-year sentence for his guilty plea to firearms charges related to his purchase of an AK-47. The district court properly applied an upward departure based, in part, on evidence defendant had posted numerous times about carrying out violent attacks, and spoke of killing police officers and slaughtering non-Muslims. Affirmed.
Court: DC Circuit, Judge: Ginsburg, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: 21-3057, Categories: firearms, sentencing