U.S. v. Obey (Lawyers Weekly No. 15-01-0650, 11 pp.) (Motz, J.) No. 14-4585, June 24, 2015; USDC at Raleigh, N.C. (Dever, J.) 4th Cir. Holding: A district court did not commit plain error in sentencing a defendant, who pleaded guilty ...

Tagged with: sentencing

U.S. v. Shell (Lawyers Weekly No. 15-01-0619, 55 pp.) (Harris, J.) No. 14-4211, June 12, 2015; USDC at Statesville, N.C. (Voorhees, J.) 4th Cir. Holding: A district court erred in enhancing defendant’s firearm possession sentence for his prior North Carolina ...

Tagged with: sentencing Violent Crime

U.S. v. Span (Lawyers Weekly No. 15-01-0576, 34 pp.) (Davis, J.) No. 14-4655, June 8, 2015; USDC at Charlotte, N.C. (Cogburn, J.) 4th Cir. Holding: The 4th Circuit vacates a sentence enhanced under the Armed Career Criminal Act because the ...

Tagged with: ACCA sentencing

U.S. v. Wynn (Lawyers Weekly No. 15-01-0531, 12 pp.) (Keenan, J.) No. 14-4599, May 20, 2015; USDC at Norfolk, Va. (Jackson, J.) 4th Cir. Holding: A district court did not err in determining, based on defendant’s status as a recidivist ...

Tagged with: sentencing Supervised Release

State v. Fennell (Lawyers Weekly No. 15-07-0506, 9 pp.) (Martha Geer, J.) Appealed from Pender County Superior Court (Jay Hockenbury, J.) N.C. App. Holding: Defendant spent 352 days in jail awaiting trial prior to the original judgment being entered against ...

Tagged with: sentencing

State v. Godbey (Lawyers Weekly No. 15-07-0503, 11 pp.) (Sanford Steelman Jr., J.) Appealed from Iredell County Superior Court (Anderson Cromer, J.) N.C. App. Holding: Even though it appears that the trial judge impermissibly changed defendant’s sentence once he learned ...

Tagged with: mootness sentencing

U.S. v. Bercian-Flores (Lawyers Weekly No. 15-01-0509, 17 pp.) (Wynn, J.) No. 13-4504, May 14, 2015; USDC at Charlotte, N.C. (Whitney, J.) 4th Cir. Holding: A defendant sentenced for illegal reentry into the U.S. as an illegal alien cannot overturn ...

Tagged with: Illegal Reentry sentencing

U.S. v. Foote (Lawyers Weekly No. 15-01-0391, 32 pp.) (Thacker, J.) No. 13-7841, April 27, 2015; USDC at Greensboro, N.C. (Tilley, J.) 4th Cir. Holding: A federal court cannot consider appellant’s claim that he should be resentenced for crack cocaine ...

Tagged with: sentencing

State v. Antone (Lawyers Weekly No. 15-07-0332, 7 pp.) (Sanford Steelman Jr., J.) Appealed from Columbus County Superior Court (Gregory Bell, J.) N.C. App. Holding: Defendant, who was 16 when he committed the crime at issue, was convicted of first-degree ...

Tagged with: sentencing

U.S. v. Lymas (Lawyers Weekly No. 15-01-0268, 16 pp.) (Traxler, J.) No. 13-4635, March 18, 2015; USDC at Raleigh, N.C. (Boyle, J.) 4th Cir. Holding:  A district court erred in handing down identical sentences to three defendants convicted in a ...

Tagged with: sentencing