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Criminal Law

Fourth Circuit Blog

Case summaries and commentary by a federal defender in the 4th Circuit.
By Jonathan Byrne

Post Frequency: 3.6/day

Last Entry: October 14, 2020 at 11:09:00

"Best Evidence" Explained

Posted on June 03, 2009
US v. Smith: Smith was charged with (among other things) being a felon in possession of firearms and possessing firearms in connection with a drug trafficking offense. At trial, the Government presented testimony from an ATF agent who explained that all the firearms were manufactured out of state (and therefore traveled in interstate commerce), based upon his review of ATF databases and written reference materials...

Non-Governmental Interception of Phone Calls Requires Suppression

Posted on May 20, 2009
US v. Crabtree: Crabtree was on supervised release, living with his girlfriend. When she became suspicious about Crabtree's relationship with his ex-wife, she began taping his phone calls. Among other things, the calls showed Crabtree threatened to burn down the ex's home and truck (I assume - it's difficult to say whether the threat was to the ex or the girlfriend, from the way the opinion is written) and set up a third party to be arrested...

Gun On Person Possessed "In Connection With" Simple Possession Felony

Posted on May 20, 2009
US v. Jenkins: Jenkins (aka "Big Tim") was confronted by Charleston, South Carolina, police, while carrying a firearm. After he was arrested, officers noticed "a white rock-like substance between his fingers, later identified as .29 gram[] of cocaine base" while processing him...

Disqualification of Counsel Did Not Vioalte Sixth Amendment; Court May Hear Appeals Filed Outside 10-Day Window

Posted on May 11, 2009
US v. Urutyan: Urutyan was convicted of fraud, conspiracy, and aggravated identity theft, based on a scheme to collect PINs from an ATM at a convenience store where he (and other conspirators) worked. Once they had the numbers, the conspirators withdrew about $600,000 from various accounts and wired the money to Russia and Armenia...

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Plain Error Sinks Unknowing ACCA Plea

Posted on April 30, 2009
US v. Massenburg: Massenburg pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. Prior to sentencing, the probation officer concluded that he was an armed career criminal. At sentencing, Massenburg objected on Apprendi/Blakely grounds and also that the prior offenses were all part of the same course of conduct and should be counted as only one qualifying prior conviction...

Limited Consent to Search Means Limited Consent

Posted on April 30, 2009
US v. Neely: Neely was pulled over late at night in Charlotte, NC, after leaving a parking lot in a high crime area without turning his lights on. After the officer received a valid license and registration, he gave Neely a verbal warning about the lights...

District Court Must Explain Why Sentence Is Appropriate to Specific Case

Posted on April 28, 2009
US v. Carter: Carter assisted some friends of his in their licensed firearm sales business. Unfortunately, they were selling short-barrelled rifles at gun shows, which led to an ATF investigation. As part of that investigation, Carter's home was searched and it was learned he was a convicted felon...

Use of Peer-to-Peer Network Triggers Child Porn Distribution Ehancement

Posted on April 28, 2009
US v. Layton: An informant told cops they say Layton looking at child porn on his computer. Cops went to investigate and questioned Layton, who gave a statement admitting to downloading porn, that there were a few thousand images on his computer, and that he used a peer-to-peer software called WinMX...

Defendant "Found" By ICE Detainer After State Arrest

Posted on April 02, 2009
US v. Sosa-Carabantes: Sosa-Carabantes was arrested on state charges in North Carolina after illegally reentering the United States. While in state custody, ICE placed a detainer on him via a local officer who had been certified to screen state arrestees for immigration violations...

Notice Required For Trespass Conviction

Posted on April 02, 2009
US v. Madrigal-Valadez: Madrigal-Valadez was convicted after a bench trial of entering a military installation, Fort Lee in Virginia, for a purpose prohibited by law. That purpose, allegedly, was being an alien in the United States illegally. The conviction arose from an incident in which Madrigal-Valadez drove a soldier back to Fort Lee...

Court Affirms Conviction, Death Sentence, Arising from Multi-State Spree

Posted on April 02, 2009
US v. Basham: Basham, along with a co-defendant, escaped from jail in Kentucky and embarked on a multi-state crime spree that stretched from Indiana to South Carolina. Along the way, the two kidnapped one man in Kentucky, who managed to escape, and two women in West Virginia and South Carolina, who were never seen again...

New DNA Evidence Allows Plea Withdrawal

Posted on April 02, 2009
US v. Thompson-Riviere: Thompson-Riviere pleaded guilty to being an alien who illegally reentered under 8 USC 1326(b)(4) after being deported to his native Panama. He was born in the Canal Zone in 1965. After entering the plea, however, he learned from a newly discovered relative that his actual father was an American citizen...

Search, Conviction Upheld, Sentence Vacated in Drugs/Guns Case

Posted on April 02, 2009
US v. Perry: Perry was convicted on drug and gun charges following both a search of his home and a series of controlled buys. Perry unsuccessfully sought to suppress marijuana and firearms found during the search as well as incriminating statements made that day...

Court Reverses SORNA Convictions

Posted on March 16, 2009
US v. Hatcher: This case was a consolidated appeal of several cases where the defendants were convicted of violating the Sex Offender Registration and Treatment Act ("SORNA") by travelling interstate without properly updating their registrations as sex offenders...

Divided Court Affirms Stat Max Sentence for Robbery

Posted on March 16, 2009
US v. Heath: Heath pleaded guilty to interference with commerce by robbery and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The facts underlying the conviction included the robbery of a convenience store and a burglary during which Heath stole 10 shotguns and rifles...

Alien Using Alias Not "Found" While In State Custody

Posted on March 09, 2009
US v. Uribe-Rios: Uribe-Rios was convicted of illegal reentry following deportation. After his reentry, he was arrested and convicted, under an alias, in North Carolina state court on drug charges in 2001. While serving his state sentencing, ICE lodged a detainer with NC authorities under the alias's name...

Applicable 3582 "Sentencing Range" Is Pre-Departure

Posted on February 23, 2009
US v. Donnell: This another retroactive crack case. To be eligible to receive a reduced sentence under 3582(c)(2), a defendant's sentence must be "based on" a sentencing range that was subsequently lowered by the Sentencing Commission. The issue in the pair of cases consolidated here was whether, in situations where the offense level but not the sentencing range changes (because the offense level is so high) and the defendants received a substantial assistance departure at sentencing, are the defendants eligible for a reduced sentence? The district courts said no...

No 3582 Reduction in Statutory Departure Cases

Posted on February 23, 2009
US v. Hood: This is another case dealing with issues arising from the retroactive application of the amended crack Guidelines. In this case, actually two consolidated cases, the defendants were subject to mandatory minimum sentences of at least 240 months in prison, but received significantly shorter sentences (100 and 108 months) after providing substantial assistance...

Court Affirmed "3 Strikes" Sentence

Posted on February 23, 2009
US v. Thompson: Thompson was convicted of bank robbery and sentenced to life in prison under the "three strikes" law, 18 USC 3559(c). The "strikes" in question are convictions for a "serious violent felony." If the defendant has two prior "strikes" and the current conviction is a "serious violent felony," a life sentence is mandatory...

Non-Forcible Statutory Rape Not "Violent Felony" Under ACCA

Posted on February 04, 2009
US v. Thornton: Thornton was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm and body armor and sentenced under the Armed Career Criminal Act. At his initial sentencing, the district court identified four qualifying prior convictions. On remand from the Fourth Circuit, the district court concluded that two of those convictions were not "separate" offenses and that Thornton therefore had three qualifying prior convictions...

NC Felony Stalking = "Crime of Violence" Under USSG 4B1.2(a)

Posted on February 02, 2009
US v. Seay: Seay was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm and sentenced to 96 months in prison. On appeal, he argued that the district court made two errors at sentencing and argued that his sentence was unreasonable. The Fourth Circuit concluded otherwise and affirmed...

Court Affirms Conviction of Former VRS Member

Posted on February 02, 2009
US v. Vidacak: Vidacak was convicted on four counts of making false statements in immigration applications. The basis for the charges was Vidacak's failure to disclose/admit that he had been a member of the VRS (Army of the Republika Srpska) during the Bosnian Civil War...

Court Affirms Adult Prosecution of Juvenile in RICO Case

Posted on February 02, 2009
US v. Juvenile Male: This is an interlocutory appeal involving a juvenile defendant who was 17 when charged. He was later transferred to adult prosecution. The defendant appealed that transfer, on various grounds. He was initially charged by information with conspiring to participate in a racketeering enterprise, based on his alleged involvement with a gang called MS-13...

Court Sidesteps Guideline Ex Post Facto Issue

Posted on January 20, 2009
US v. Myers: Myers pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. The firearm at issue was one that had been listed in 18 USC 921(a)(30) as part of the assault weapons ban that lapsed in 2004. Applying the 2006 version of the Sentencing Guidelines (which were in effect at sentencing), the district court enhanced Myers's sentence six levels because the firearm was capable of accepting a large capacity magazine...

Failure to Impose Fine Not Clear Error

Posted on January 20, 2009
US v. Fields: In 2006, Fields was initially sentenced to a term of 12 months in prison (following a conviction for making a false loan application) and a $2000 fine, in spite of the district court concluding that Fields did not have the ability to pay a fine...

Court OKs Warrantless Cell Phone Search, Auto Inventory Search

Posted on January 20, 2009
US v. Murphy: Murphy was convicted of conspiracy to distribute narcotics. The evidence against him consisted largely of items found following a traffic stop of a car in which Murphy (and two others) were riding. Murphy sought to have two pieces of evidence suppressed - information taken from his cell phone and more than $14,000 in cash recovered from a bag in the car's trunk...

Appeal Waiver Precludes Booker Relief

Posted on January 13, 2009
US v. Linder: A cautionary tale on the long arm of appeal waivers. Linder pleaded guilty to a drug charge with a plea agreement that included a waiver of any appellate rights. The guilty plea was entered before Blakely, but sentencing was delayed until the Fourth had incorrectly concluded that Blakely didn't apply to the Guidelines...

No Fourth Amendment Protection from Video Surveillance in Open Fields

Posted on January 12, 2009
US v. Vankesteren: Fourth Amendment cases come with the oddest sets of facts. Vankesteren was charged and convicted of taking or possessing a migratory bird without a permit. Part of the evidence against him came from surveillance cameras set up to record action on Vankesteren's land where a trap was set...

Convictions (on Fourth Attempt) Don't Violate Double Jeopardy

Posted on January 12, 2009
US v. Hall: Hall and his codefendant, Handy, were repeatedly prosecuted by the Government for their roles in a complex drug trafficking scheme. Twice they were tried in the District of Columbia, but the jury either acquitted or hung on the charges and mistrials were declared...

Post-Sentence Confinement Statute Struck Down

Posted on January 12, 2009
US v. Comstock: This was a challenge to 18 USC 4248, a portion of the Adam Walsh Act that allows the Government to commit someone indefinitely who is a "sexually dangerous" person prior to the expiration of a federal criminal sentence. Comstock and the other defendants in this consolidated case had all been detained past the end of their criminal sentence under the law...

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