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Decided: June 30, 2015
On remand from the United States Supreme Court, the Fourth Circuit denied the government’s motion to remand the case to district court and vacated Defendant’s sentence and remanded for further proceedings …
Decided: June 24, 2015
The Fourth Circuit held that the Government did not breach a plea agreement with Obey, and the district court did not commit plain error in crafting Obey’s sentence for the drug …
Decided: June 12, 2015
The Fourth Circuit vacated and remanded the lower court opinion, holding that a defendant’s prior conviction in North Carolina for second-degree rape was not automatically a crime of violence under sentencing …
Decided: June 9, 2015
The Fourth Circuit upheld the District Court’s revocation of Defendant’s two current terms of supervised release and sentence of consecutive terms of imprisonment, followed by new concurrent terms of supervised release. …
Decided: June 8, 2015
The Fourth Circuit held that the Government failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the Defendant’s prior felonies were separate and distinct criminal episodes for the purposes of …
Decided: May 20, 2015
The Fourth Circuit held that a defendant’s prior drug convictions increased the extent to which a defendant’s marijuana offenses during supervised release were punishable under 21 U.S.C. § 844(a).
This appeal …
Decided: May 19, 2015
The Fourth Circuit affirmed a North Carolina district court’s denial of summary judgment to correctional officers implicated in a Section 1983 excessive force claim.
The 1983 claim arose from Ussery’s forcible …
Decided On: April 27, 2015
The Fourth Circuit held that defendant’s collateral appeal, based on §2225 allegations, did not state a claim of error that sufficiently fulfilled the high standards required in §2225, and affirmed …
Decided: April 22, 2015
The Fourth Circuit held that a federal trial court’s order granting habeas corpus based on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel must be vacated and the petition remanded for dismissal.…
Decided: March 20, 2015
The Fourth Circuit held that Virginia’s state habeas court incorrectly applied the Strickland standard because they did not find prejudice in a lack of a heat of passion jury instruction, and …
Decided: April 3, 2015
This is an appeal from a jury trial convicting the defendants of murder. Beyle and Abrar were Somali pirates who were part of a group that raided an American ship and …
Decided: April 2, 2015
The Fourth Circuit held that, under the facts of the case, a lifetime term of supervised release following a 60 month term of imprisonment was both substantively and procedurally reasonable, and …
Decided: April 1, 2014
The Fourth Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court and denied Rangel’s motion to vacate his conviction and sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, alleging that his trial and appellate …
Decided: October 29, 2014
The Fourth Circuit upheld the Appellant’s conviction for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. The Court also upheld the district court’s application of sentencing enhancements under the …
Decided: October 28, 2014
The Fourth Circuit held that a court may not consider factors other than the substantial assistance offered to the prosecution when determining the extent of a defendant’s sentence reduction (i.e. downward …