In Rodolfo Hernandez v. USA, This appeal required the court of appeals decide whether the district court abused its discretion when it refused to conduct an evidentiary hearing to determine whether Rodolfo Hernandez’s counsel provided effective assistance when she incorrectly advised him about the immigration consequences of his guilty plea.…
In U.S. v. Bailey, defendant appealed his convictions for sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C § 2251(a) and 18 U.S.C § 2252A(a)(5)(B) respectively. He argued that the indictment was insufficiently clear and that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction…
In U.S. v. Kopp, the defendant registered as a sex offender in the Northern District of Georgia, and then moved to Daytona Beach, Florida, where he failed to update his registration. A grand jury then indicted Kopp in the Northern District of Georgia for failure to register as sex offender.…
In U.S. v. Estrada, Defendant Rudy Estrada pled guilty to illegal re-entry after being deported subsequent to an aggravated felony conviction. He now appeals the 48-month sentence imposed by the district court, arguing that the district court erred in applying a 16-level enhancement pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii). This particular…
In U.S. v Payne, Defendant Payne appealed his sentence for bank robbery and possession of a firearm, arguing that the district court violated his Sixth Amendment rights when it sentenced him to the mandatory minimum sentence on a firearm charge. Payne pleaded guilty to federal crime of bank robbery where…
In U.S. v Watkins, the defendant appealed the court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence in violation of the Fourth Amendment obtained by the government as a result of a warrantless search of his computers and its denial of his motion for reconsideration and to reopen the evidentiary hearing.…
In U.S v. Serrapio, the defendant asked the court of appeals to hold that the district court’s modifications to his federal probation sentence violated his rights under the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment, the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, and the First Amendment. After his federal…
In U.S. v. Vandergrift, the defendant was placed on three years of supervised release after serving a 97-month sentence for the federal crime of possession and distribution of child pornography. Before the expiration of a three year supervised release, Vandergrift’s probation officer filed a petition seeking revocation of his supervised…
In U.S. v. Charles the defendant was found in possession of prepaid debit cards that were loaded with tax-refund monies sent by the I.R.S. in response to fraudulent tax returns. Charles pleaded guilty to the federal crimes of trafficking in access devices and aggravated identity theft. The identity theft count…
In U. S. v Fowler the defendant was convicted of under the federal witness tampering statute for murdering a police officer with the intent of preventing him from communicating information about a federal criminal offense to a federal law enforcement officer. He was also charged in count two with using…