Fugitive Status Tolls Supervised Release Period 
By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 20, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge Dennis W. Shedd
A defendant who absconded while on federal supervised release and remained at large for 13 years cannot overturn the district court’s revocation of his supervised release and imposition of additional sentences for supervised release violations that occurred after expiration of the period of supervised release; the 4th Circuit says the supervised release term was tolled [...]
Foot surgery case reinstated on fraud claim against podiatrist
By Peter Vieth
Published: March 2, 2011
Tags: Federal Courts, Fraud, Judge Clyde H. Hamilton, Judge Dennis W. Shedd, Judge James C. Turk, Judge Robert B. King
A $2.35-million lawsuit over failed foot surgery, rejected by a Roanoke federal judge as an artful attempt to evade the statute of limitations, is alive again after an appeals court panel took a sharply different view of claims that a podiatrist intentionally hid information from his patient. The Feb. 24 unpublished per curiam decision from [...]
Eight-Level Sentence Enhancement Upheld
By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 24, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge Dennis W. Shedd
Although defendant contends the sentencing court committed procedural error in applying an 8-level enhancement because that court should not have looked to the charging documents to determine that his second-degree assault conviction arose from his sexual abuse of a minor, the 4th Circuit says any error was harmless and it upholds the three-year sentence. Jose [...]
Va. Marijuana Case Not a ‘Conviction’ Bar
By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 12, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Immigration, Judge Dennis W. Shedd
A Peruvian’s 1997 Virginia adjudication for marijuana possession pursuant to Va. Code § 18.2-251, in which a judge deferred adjudication and ordered probation, did not count as a “conviction” under a federal immigration statute, 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(48)(A), and the 4th Circuit grants the petition for review and remands to the BIA petitioner’s request for [...]
Creditor’s Rights – Promissory Note – Receiver Suit – Jurisdiction
By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 7, 2010
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Creditor's Rights, Judge Dennis W. Shedd
A receiver appointed pursuant to an FTC enforcement action against a fraudulent debt counseling scheme wins summary judgment in its action to recover receivership property, payment on a promissory note, from a business associate who borrowed $1.34 for a restaurant from the perpetrator of the fraud; the 4th Circuit says the note was a negotiable [...]
Immigration – Adjustment Of Status – Aggregate Unlawful Presence
By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 1, 2010
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Immigration, Judge Dennis W. Shedd
Two citizens of Mexico, a husband and his wife who is a derivative applicant, are denied 4th Circuit review of a Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision dismissing their appeal of an immigration judge’s denial of husband’s application for adjustment of status under 8 U.S.C. § 1255(i). Husband entered the U.S. without inspection on at least [...]
Criminal – Ineffective Assistance – ACCA – Failure To Object
By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 10, 2010
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge Dennis W. Shedd
At defendant’s sentencing as an armed career criminal, his lawyer’s failure to object to the use of defendant’s prior South Carolina convictions prejudiced his defense and amounts to ineffective assistance of counsel, and the 4th Circuit vacates denial of defendant’s § 2255 motion and remands for resentencing. The Armed Career Criminal Act imposes a 15-year [...]
Criminal – Competency – Forcible Medication – Waiver
By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 30, 2010
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge Dennis W. Shedd
The 4th Circuit upholds a criminal defendant’s guilty plea to a firearm charge, entered after four years of competency hearings leading to a forcible medication order; defendant did not appeal the earlier forcible medication order and his guilty plea waived his right to appeal that order now. Defendant seeks to reopen his judgment of conviction [...]
Civil Rights – Fair Housing – ADA – Housing Access – Preemption
By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 21, 2010
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Rights, Judge Dennis W. Shedd
A developer of multi-family housing sued by disability advocacy groups cannot pursue state law cross-claims for indemnification, negligence and breach of contract against the project architect, because the state law claims are preempted by the federal Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the 4th Circuit affirms summary judgment for the architect. [...]
Constitutional – First Amendment – Alcohol Ads – College Newspapers
By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 12, 2010
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional, Judge Dennis W. Shedd
A regulation of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board that restricts alcohol ads in college newspapers is not facially unconstitutional, and the 4th Circuit reverses the district court’s contrary decision and remands the case for further proceedings. Both parties agree that to determine whether a regulatory burden on commercial speech violates the First Amendment, we [...]
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