Denial of defendant's petition under 28 U.S.C. section 2255 for relief from his marijuana possession sentence is affirmed where, notwithstanding its procedural dismissal based on deferred adjudication, defendant's Texas guilty plea for aggravated assault could count toward defendant's status as a career offender under the Sentencing Guidelines.
Read US v. Daniels, No. 08-30558
Appellate Information
Filed November 16, 2009
Judges
Per Curiam
Defendant's illegal reentry sentence is affirmed where: 1) the district court erred in assigning defendant two additional criminal history points, pursuant to U.S.S.G. sections 4A1.2(e) and (k), based on his prior assault conviction in state court, because it was error to count defendant's entire sentence issued upon his violation of probation, rather than considering only the portion of the sentence he actually served; but 2) the error did not affect defendant's substantial rights and thus was not plain error.
Read US v. Jasso, No. 08-10453
Appellate Information
Filed November 9, 2009
Judges
Opinion by Judge Benavides
Defendant's conviction for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin resulting in serious bodily injury is affirmed over a claim that certain evidence was improperly admitted where: 1) defendant's prior conviction was relevant to show intent because both the extrinsic offense and the charged offense involved an intent to distribute; and 2) a prior arrest for heroin possession was relevant to show that defendant had the requisite intent for the crime charged.
Read US v. Cockrell, No. 08-41008
Appellate Information
Filed November 6, 2009
Judges
Opinion by Judge Garza
Defendant's drug and firearm possession convictions and sentence are affirmed where: 1) the district court erred by admitting a drug lab report that was a testimonial statement and thus hearsay, but this did not rise to the level of plain error; 2) a rational trier of fact was entitled to conclude that defendant possessed the handgun at issue "in furtherance" of a drug trafficking offense; 3) "aggravated robbery," as defined by section 29.03 of the Texas Penal Code, is a "serious violent felony" for purposes of the Sentencing Guidelines.
Appellate Information
Filed November 6, 2009
Judges
Per Curiam
Defendant's conviction and sentence for transporting illegal aliens are affirmed where: 1) the district court did not abuse its discretion in applying a reckless endangerment enhancement; 2) defendant presented no evidence to suggest that the "financial gain" aspect of 18 U.S.C. section 1324(a)(1)(B)(ii) erroneously informed the district court's decision; and 3) defendant's sentence would not have been affected by a reduction based on smuggling aliens other than for profit.
Read US v. Garza, No. 08-41197
Appellate Information
Filed October 30, 2009
Judges
Per Curiam
Defendants' criminal contempt convictions are affirmed where: 1) the record did not indicate that the trial judge failed to consider the recusal standard under 28 U.S.C. section 455(a) in denying defendants' motion to recuse; 2) the district court's instruction to the government to prosecute defendants for criminal contempt did not indicate prejudgment of the case; and 3) a district court's statements on the evidence at sentencing may not be considered as an accurate reflection of the district court's view of the evidence during trial.
Read US v. Allen, No. 08-11041
Appellate Information
Filed October 28, 2009
Judges
Per Curiam
In a firearm possession prosecution, dismissal of a habeas petition is vacated and judgment for respondents is entered on the merits, where the Bureau of Prisons' regulation categorically excluding early-release eligibility for inmates convicted of firearm possession was not arbitrary and capricious because it was justified by public safety concerns.
Read Handley v. Chapman, No. 09-10061
Appellate Information
Filed October 29, 2009
Judges
Opinion by Judge Smith
Defendant's drug conspiracy conviction is vacated where no exigent circumstances existed to justify the police's failure to obtain a warrant to search defendant's residence, and thus, the district court erred in denying defendant's motion to suppress.
Read US v. Menchaca-Castruita, No. 08-40403
Appellate Information
Filed October 29, 2009
Judges
Opinion by Judge Wiener
Defendant's child pornography conviction is affirmed where: 1) the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it showed the jury three short excerpts from three of the seventeen different videos at issue; 2) the district court did not err in allowing the jury to see the brief excerpt of the non-child pornography video found downloading as the search of defendant's home occurred; and 3) an employee of the company that designed the file-sharing software used by defendant did not give improper expert testimony.
Read US v. Caldwell, No. 08-50804
Appellate Information
Filed October 26, 2009
Judges
Opinion by Judge Garwood
Defendant's conviction for transporting undocumented aliens is vacated where the district court erred in denying defendant's motion to suppress evidence obtained as the result of an unconstitutional stop by a United States Border Patrol agent.
Read US v. Rangel-Portillo, No. 08-40803
Appellate Information
Filed October 26, 2009
Judges
Opinion by Judge Benavides
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