Circuit Court Opinions

The Federal Docket

United States v. Jose Barrera-Landa (10th Cir. July 2020)

The Tenth Circuit affirmed the trial court’s denial of the defendant’s request to enjoin ICE from removing him once he was granted pretrial release, holding that a defendant’s release under the Bail Reform Act does not preclude ICE from detaining him under its own, independent statutory authority.

United States v. Colinford Mattis, Urooj Rahman (2d Cir. June 2020)

In a case involving young lawyers charged with throwing molotov cocktails into an unoccupied police cruiser, the Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s order releasing them on bond pending trial. The Court concluded that the district court did not clearly err in determining the conditions of release were adequate to safeguard the community and that it did not err by not explicitly mentioning the statutory presumption against release in its order.

Ervine Davenport v. Duncan MacLaren, Warden (6th Cir. June 2020)

The Court vacated the defendant’s state law conviction for first degree murder. The defendant’s shackling during trial violated clearly established federal law and was not harmless since the evidence of first-degree premeditation was not overwhelming.

United States v. Jeremy Wade (7th Cir. June 2020)

The Court affirmed the defendant’s conviction under 18 USC 912 for impersonating a U.S. employee and acting in conformity with that pretense, rejecting his argument that the offense requires an intent to defraud. The Court held that all that was required was impersonating an officer and an “overt act” which causes a victim to take a course of action they otherwise wouldn’t, which in this case was satisfied because the defendant’s high school crush opened her door to him and let him in based on her belief that he was a DEA agent.

United States v. Eluogio Tigua, Freddy Castro (11th Cir. June 2020)

The Court held that defendants who pleaded guilty and had their pleas accepted before enactment of the First Step Act were not eligible for expanded safety-valve relief under the First Step Act, even if they were sentenced after the Act was enacted.

United States v. Tony Denson (11th Cir. June 2020)

The district court is not required to hold a hearing prior to reducing a defendant’s sentence under the First Step Act’s retroactive penalties for crack-cocaine.

United States v. Juan Rodriguez Cuya (11th Cir. July 2020)

The Court held that a movant under 28 U.S.C. 2255 is not entitled to discovery prior to filing his or her motion.

United States v. Bryan Singer (11th Cir. June 2020)

The Court affirmed the defendant’s conviction for unlawfully transporting technology to Cuba without a license, holding that there was sufficient evidence that he knew his conduct was unlawful given repeated warnings he received regarding the export license requirement. The Court also held that the trial court adequately conveyed the substance of the defendant’s proposoed instruction on ignorance of the law while it did not recite it verbatim and that the defendant’s sentencing enhancement for obstruction of justice was warranted given his perjured testimony at trial.

United States v. David Pon (11th Cir. June 2020)

Evidence/Expert Testimony – Expert testimony discussing a theory that lacks sufficient testing, known or potential error rates, control standards, acceptance among the science community, and a connection between the theory and the underlying research is sufficiently unreliable to be excluded. Further, a peer-reviewed paper mentioning the theory is insufficient alone to prove reliability. Evidence/Rebuttal – […]

United States v. Olando Harris, Jr. (11th Cir. July 2020)

The Court affirmed the defendant’s sentence, holding that it was not an abuse of discretion for the Court to weigh the defendant’s history and offense over his post-offense rehabilitation.

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