Justia U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

The Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's sentence imposed after he pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm as a previously convicted felon. The court held that defendant's claim that the district court erred in concluding that defendant's prior Iowa robbery conviction was a crime of violence for purposes of USSG 4B1.2(a) was moot in light of the district court's alternative ruling that it would have imposed the same sentence under the 18 U.S.C. 3553(a) factors even if it had wrongly decided the "crime of violence" issue.The court was satisfied that the district court considered the alternative guideline range and imposed the 63-month sentence as an upward variance from this alternative range. Furthermore, defendant's sentence was not substantively unreasonable in light of the serious aggravating factors, and the district court considered and weighed the mitigating factors. View "United States v. Davis" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's revocation of defendant's supervised release for the third time and sentence, as well as the reimposition of a life term of supervised release and new conditions of supervision. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion by imposing a 24-month revocation sentence because it properly considered the 18 U.S.C. 3553(a) factors, and did not overlook a relevant factor, or commit a clear error in weighing relevant factors. Furthermore, the sentence was below the statutory limit and defendant's objection to the district court reimposing old supervised release conditions amounted to an improper collateral attack of the underlying sentence. Finally, the record supported the condition requiring defendant to submit to periodic polygraph testing, and there was no abuse of discretion in the imposition of a special condition prohibiting the use or possession of audio/visual recording or producing equipment absent written approval of the probation office. View "United States v. Simpson" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm. The court held that inculpatory statements defendant made during his state parole revocation hearing related to possession of the firearm were properly admitted. In this case, defendant testified voluntarily under oath after being informed of his right to counsel and his right to remain silent, and was warned that any statements he made could be used against him in the revocation proceeding and other criminal proceedings.The court also held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in granting the government's motion in limine to exclude the passenger's prior conviction. Furthermore, any error in admitting the evidence was harmless in light of defendant's admission that he knowingly possessed the firearm found in the car. Finally, although defendant should have been Mirandized before any custodial interrogation, the court held that his admissions were properly admitted at trial and rendered any Miranda violation harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. View "United States v. Daniels" on Justia Law

Defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of receipt of child pornography and appealed his sentence. The Eighth Circuit held that the restitution order survived the appeal waiver because the order was not authorized by the statute.However, the court vacated the district court's award of restitution to the victim, holding that the restitution order sought to compensate solely for losses occurring before the offense of conviction. Furthermore, the record did not indicate that defendant contributed to any continuing distribution. Finally, the court held that the prison sentence was within the scope of the appeal waiver; there was no provision in the waiver allowing defendant to appeal a sentence within statutory limits; there was no miscarriage of justice in his prison sentence; and the government's motion to dismiss as to the portion of the appeal addressing the prison sentence dismissed. View "United States v. Thomas" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute 5 grams or more of methamphetamine, and distribution of and possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.The court held that there was probable cause to issue a search warrant of the Folsom St. garage; because the camper was not noticeably separate from the garage, it was covered by the search warrant, whether or not it was a vehicle for Fourth Amendment purposes; and, because the April 2 search was legally conducted pursuant to a valid search warrant, the information the police gained from the April 2 search could be relied upon for the April 22 search warrant. The court also held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying a Franks hearing; denying an in camera review of the officer's personnel file; and admitting bad acts evidence. Finally, there was no error in the jury instruction for the lesser included offense of simple possession, and sufficient evidence supported the verdict. View "United States v. Mazzulla" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's sentence after he pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of ammunition. The court held that the district court did not plainly err by applying USSG 5G1.3(d) and concluding that a consecutive sentence was required in this instance. Furthermore, the district court's discussion of the prison system in practical terms was not in error and, even if defendant could show error, his claim failed at step three of plain error review because he failed to show a reasonable probability that but for the error he would have received a more reasonable sentence. In this case, the district court imposed a sentence at the low end of the Guidelines after thoroughly reviewing defendant's criminal history, mental health, career aspirations, family circumstances, parole options, and need for the sentence imposed. View "United States v. Bonnell" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of a 28 U.S.C. 2255 habeas corpus petition, seeking relief from a mandatory minimum sentence imposed in 2008. The court held that petitioner's 2014 motion was time-barred under section 2255(f)(4). In this case, the issuance of the Commission's 2011 Report was what triggered petitioner's duty to act with diligence, and he failed to do so because he did not file until almost three years later. View "Ingram v. United States" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit denied a petition for review of the determination that petitioner was removable under 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii) because he was convicted in Iowa of committing an aggravated felony. Determining that it had jurisdiction, the court held that DHS was correct when it concluded that petitioner's Iowa forgery conviction qualified as an aggravated felony for purposes of section 1227(a)(2)(iii). The court held that, although DHS erred by issuing a Final Administrative Removal Order before petitioner's deadline to respond expired, petitioner failed to show prejudice. In this case, petitioner's state law crime unarguably qualified as an aggravated felony and there was nothing petitioner could have offered that would change the result. View "Salazar v. Barr" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction of five counts of sex trafficking and attempted sex trafficking, and one count of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, specifically facilitating the promotion and management of a business enterprise involving prostitution.The court held that the search of defendant's cell phone did not violate the Fourth Amendment because, under the totality of the circumstances, he did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in it. In this case, defendant was on restrictive supervised release and suspected of engaging in illicit activities, and he was on notice due to the conditions of his supervised release. The court also held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in instructing the jury; defendant's waiver to his Sixth Amendment right to counsel was not involuntary; and defendant's remaining claims of trial error failed View "United States v. Collier" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's sentence imposed after he pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. The court held that defendant's prior convictions for two counts of distributing cocaine base were properly considered separate predicate offenses because they would have been punctuated events within the conspiracy. The court also held that the district court did not clearly err in finding by a preponderance of the evidence that defendant used or possessed the revolver in connection with a crime of violence. View "United States v. Clark" on Justia Law