Justia U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

Plaintiff appealed the district court's denial of his 28 U.S.C. 2255 motion as untimely. Plaintiff argued that his failure to meet the requirements of section 2255(f)(4) should not bar his section 2255 motion because the vacaturs of his state convictions rendered him "actually innocent of his sentence." The court declined to apply McQuiggin v. Perkins, which held that a defendant who demonstrated actual innocence of his crime of conviction may, in extraordinary circumstances, proceed with a habeas petition that otherwise would have been statutorily time-barred. The court held that McQuiggin does not apply to habeas claims based on actual innocence of a sentence and, therefore, affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "United States v. Jones" on Justia Law

Petitioner, a death row inmate, appealed the district court's denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. 2254. Petitioner alleged that his Sixth Amendment rights to an impartial jury and to be confronted with the witnesses against him were violated by an extraneous communication between a juror and her father during the penalty phase of his capital murder trial. The court reversed the judgment of the district court and remanded for an evidentiary hearing on the issue of whether the communication between a juror and her father about a Bible verse had a substantial and injurious effect or influence in determining the jury's verdict. View "Hurst v. Joyner" on Justia Law

Defendant appealed her convictions and sentence for conspiring to traffic in 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana, and of additional charges stemming from the kidnapping and murder of Michael Knight in connection with her trafficking operation. The court concluded that the district court did not err in suppressing recorded interviews where there was no legitimate basis to suppress them; pursuant to United States v. Love, the court concluded that the district court's relatively short vacation of the bench was harmless; although the district court's quantity instruction and attendant verdict form were inaccurate, the government proved that the conspiracy trafficked in tens of thousands of pounds of marijuana over its ten-year course, amounting to many multiples of the quantity required to impose a life sentence; and, therefore, the court affirmed defendant's convictions and sentence. View "United States v. Brown" on Justia Law

Defendant pled guilty to charges stemming from his involvement in a massive and organized scheme to use stolen credit card information to create counterfeit credit cards and to use such cards to make retail purchases of gift cards and high-end merchandise to be sold or returned for cash. Defendant's appellate counsel filed an Anders brief questioning whether the district court adequately complied with Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11 when accepting defendant's guilty plea and whether the district court properly sentenced defendant. The court examined the issues raised by defendant in his pro se briefing and his appellate counsel's Anders brief and concluded that all issues lack merit. In accordance with the court's obligations under Anders, the court reviewed the entire record and found no reversible error. Accordingly, the court affirmed the convictions and sentence, as well as the district court's order of restitution. View "United States v. Seignious" on Justia Law

Defendant appealed his conviction for three counts of fraud related to his receipt of Social Security and healthcare benefits. The court concluded that, in regards to Count One and Two, the indictment was sufficient to apprise defendant of the charges against him and identify the essential elements of the crimes charged; the indictment charged the requisite intent and the court rejected defendant's argument that the government failed to allege specific intent to defraud; the court rejected defendant's argument that the district court erred in denying his motion to dismiss the indictment as time barred under the statute of limitations; the court rejected defendant's challenges to the sufficiency of the indictment on Count Three; and, in regards to defendant's healthcare fraud conviction, the government presented sufficient evidence for a rational jury to find that defendant engaged in a health care fraud scheme. Accordingly, the court held that the district court properly denied defendant's motion to dismiss the indictment and motion for judgment of acquittal. The court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "United States v. Perry" on Justia Law

Defendant appealed his sentence after pleading guilty to one count of unlawfully reentering the United States. Defendant argued that a conviction of first degree burglary in Maryland is not a crime of violence because Maryland's definition of burglary exceeds the scope of generic burglary as defined by the Supreme Court. The court concluded that Maryland's first degree burglary statute encompasses "conduct that falls outside the generic definition" of burglary. As a consequence, a Maryland conviction of first degree burglary cannot constitute a crime of violence for purposes of U.S.S.G. 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii). Accordingly, the district court erred by applying that enhancement and defendant's sentence must be vacated. View "United States v. Henriquez" on Justia Law

Defendant appealed his convictions stemming from multiple offenses arising from a health care fraud scheme. The court concluded that the evidence was sufficient to convict defendant of the health care offenses and of the perjury offense; the district court did not err in denying defendant's post-trial request for acquittal or a new trial on inconsistent verdicts where defendant's argument was baseless; defendant's sentence, which was less than half the low end of his Guidelines range, was reasonable; and there was no basis for concluding that the district court erred with respect to the forfeiture proceedings. View "United States v. Louthian, Sr." on Justia Law

Defendant appealed his conviction of two counts stemming from his participation in a series of armed robberies. The government cross-appealed the district court's denial of forfeiture. The court concluded that the evidence was sufficient to support defendant's conviction under Pinkerton v. United States for brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. The court concluded, however, that the district court's forfeiture ruling was unsupported by any relevant legal authority. Accordingly, the court affirmed the conviction and reversed the trial court's forfeiture ruling, remanding with directions to enter a forfeiture money judgment in the amount of the value of the stolen goods. View "United States v. Blackman" on Justia Law

Defendant appealed a restitution order as part of his sentence for bankruptcy fraud. The court concluded that attorneys' fee expenditures were includable under 18 U.S.C. 3663A(b)(1). In this case, the causal relationship the government sought to establish between the crime and the incurrence of the fees was not based simply on the fact that the fees were incurred to prevent harm from, or to remedy harm caused by, the defendant's criminal conduct. Rather, the government sought to prove that the fees incurred were directly and proximately caused by defendant's bankruptcy fraud because the fraud occurred in the context of defendant's bankruptcy proceeding and Jordan Oil incurred the fees defending its interest against defendant's fraud in that same proceeding. Accordingly, the court concluded that the district court properly determined that the amount of attorneys' fees Jordan Oil incurred in the bankruptcy case as a result of defendant's offense was includable as restitution under the Mandatory Victim Restitution Act (MVRA), 18 U.S.C. 3663A. View "United States v. Abdelbary" on Justia Law

Defendant appealed the district court's denial of his motion to terminate the terms of his supervised release that had been imposed in conjunction with his term of imprisonment. The court held that defendant's term of supervised release did not commence while he remained in federal custody pending the resolution of his status under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, 18 U.S.C. 4248. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "United States v. Neuhauser" on Justia Law