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

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's 96-month sentence imposed, on remand, based on defendant's probation violation after he pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography. The court has previously held that, on revocation of probation, a sentence that falls within the original Sentencing Guidelines range for the underlying crime of conviction is presumptively reasonable. The court explained that, where, like here, the district court imposed a sentence below the original Guidelines range, it is nearly inconceivable that the district court abused its discretion in not varying downward still further. In this case, the district court, aware of defendant's Asperger's diagnosis and its tendency to impair individuals' insight and cause fixation problems, decided to give greater weight to the risk to the public arising from defendant's fascination with violence against children and his persistent attraction to child pornography. The court concluded that the district court did not abuse its discretion and defendant's sentence was not substantively unreasonable. View "United States v. Michael" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction and sentence for possession of a firearm by a felon. The court concluded that the district court did not err in denying defendant's motion to suppress and rejected defendant's Franks challenge where the alleged omissions were not clearly critical to the issuing judge's finding of probable cause. Without deciding whether exigent circumstances justified the warrantless entry, the court concluded that any illegality in the entry was not the but-for cause of obtaining the evidence.The court also concluded that defendant's contention that the National Firearms Act is unconstitutional is foreclosed by Supreme Court precedent. Finally, the court concluded that there was no error in the district court's calculation of a base offense level under USSG 4B1.2(b) based on a prior controlled substance offense; in imposing an enhancement under USSG 2K2.1(a)(3) based on the length of the shotgun's barrel; and in imposing an enhancement under USSG 2K2.1(b)(6)(B) for possession of the weapon in connection with another offense - assault by use or display of a dangerous weapon. View "United States v. Miller" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction and sentence for attempting to entice a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity. The court concluded that the evidence was sufficient to support defendant's conviction; defendant's claims of several instances of prosecutorial misconduct were rejected; and there was no error in the district court's denial of defendant's motion to compel production of a sealed document explaining why a task force officer was involuntarily removed from the Homeland Security Investigations task force. In this case, the documents contain neither evidence directly related to defendant's case nor evidence that is material to his guilt or punishment. View "United States v. Thompson" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of defendant's motion to suppress evidence of drugs found during a safety inspection of a semi transporting three vehicles, one of which contained the drugs. The court concluded that defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy because defendant did not prove that he owned the vehicle that the drugs were found in or that he was its sender or intended recipient. Therefore, defendant had no standing to challenge the search and the court did not reach the merits of his Fourth Amendment claim. View "United States v. Sierra-Serrano" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of defendant's motion to suppress evidence from a warrantless search of a vehicle. In this case, a state trooper stopped defendant's rental car for a traffic violation and conducted a warrantless search of the trunk where the trooper found over 15 kilograms of a mixture or substance containing cocaine.Considering the totality of the circumstances, the court concluded that the trooper had reasonable suspicion to extend the stop where numerous facts alerted the experienced officer that criminal activity was afoot. Given the friendly atmosphere, rapport, and conversation that had developed between the trooper and defendant, coupled with defendant's characteristics, demeanor, and responses throughout the encounter, the court concluded that the district court did not clearly err in finding defendant voluntarily consented to the search. View "United States v. Gastelum" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment declining to exercise its discretion to reduce defendant's sentence under Section 404 of the First Step Act of 2018. The court has repeatedly held that the First Step Act does not mandate that the district court analyze 18 U.S.C. 3553 factors for a permissive reduction in sentence. In this case, the sentencing judge was uniquely positioned to consider the many factors necessary in exercising the court's ultimate discretion and his plain statement regarding its decision not to exercise its discretion closes the matter. Defendant's remaining arguments have been clearly rejected by the court or are without merit. View "United States v. Mueller" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction and 120-month sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2). The court concluded that the evidence was sufficient to support defendant's conviction and thus the district court did not err in denying his motion for acquittal or a new trial. The court also concluded that the district court properly applied a sentencing enhancement under USSG 2K2.1(a)(2) based on defendant's prior controlled substance convictions under Iowa and Illinois law. View "United States v. Henderson" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's order reducing defendant's sentence under section 404(b) of the First Step Act. The court concluded that the district court committed no procedural error in declining to further reduce defendant's sentence where nothing in the record indicates the district court believed it was bound to keep the sentence within the current Guidelines range, and the district court did not deny its authority to reevaluate defendant's criminal history category. Finally, the district court did not abuse its discretion by failing to consider relevant and significant factors supporting a discretionary sentencing reduction. Rather, the record demonstrates that the district court considered defendant's arguments and set forth a reasoned basis for exercising its sentencing discretion. View "United States v. Anderson" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of habeas relief to petitioner in an action where petitioner was found guilty of two first-degree murder counts. Although the Missouri Court of Appeals' conclusion that petitioner's counsel performed effectively relied on unreasonable determinations of fact, petitioner failed to show how the error was prejudicial. In this case, the trial court's ruling to deny severance was reasonable and did not amount to an abuse of discretion. Furthermore, even if petitioner could show a substantial probability of severance on appeal, he cannot show an overall reasonable probability of a different outcome in the case. In this case, the evidence against petitioner was convincingly incriminating on both murders and he has not met his burden of showing a reasonable probability of a different outcome in either case even if there was a severance of the cases. View "Donelson v. Steele" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm after he brandished a stolen rifle in a stranger's backyard. The court concluded that, even if justification can serve as a defense to a felon-in-possession charge, the facts in this case do not support a justification for possessing the rifle at issue. The court reversed defendant's sentence and remanded for resentencing where the government concedes that defendant's Texas conviction for aggravated-assault did not qualify as a violent felony for purposes of the Armed Career Criminal Act. View "United States v. Hoxworth" on Justia Law