Criminal – Child Porn – Probation – Downward Departure 
By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 22, 2010
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge Dennis W. Shedd
A district court did not demonstrate the reasonableness of its decision to order five years’ probation and a $3,000 fine for a defendant convicted of child pornography possession, instead of the 41-51 month advisory sentencing range for the offense, and the 4th Circuit vacates and remands for further proceedings. The defense attorney and the AUSA [...]
Criminal – Tax Fraud – Sentence – Loss Calculation
By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 15, 2010
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge Allyson K. Duncan, Judge Dennis W. Shedd
In sentencing defendant for tax and wire fraud, a district court erred in calculating the tax loss from a non-random sample of audited returns, but the error was harmless and the 4th Circuit affirms defendant tax preparer’s conviction and his sentence for 48 months imprisonment. The indictment charged defendant with knowingly causing to be transmitted [...]
Criminal – Sentencing – Career Criminal – Violent Felonies
By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 8, 2010
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge Dennis W. Shedd
The 4th Circuit rejects a North Carolina defendant’s argument that his prior “violent felonies” of B&E do not add up for sentencing as an armed career criminal because multiple offenses were committed on the same occasions, as in his breaking into 13 different buildings used by 10 different occupants as storage units. Defendant pled guilty [...]
Criminal – Habeas Corpus – Va. Death Penalty – Atkins
By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 8, 2010
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge Dennis W. Shedd
The 4th Circuit rejects a Virginia death-row defendant’s petition seeking habeas relief on the ground that he is mentally retarded under Virginia law, as record evidence supports the district court determination. In Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002), the Supreme Court held that the Eighth Amendment prohibits the execution of mentally retarded persons. Relying [...]
Consumer Protection – Vehicle Repo – Bankruptcy Petition – Ipso Facto Clause
By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 18, 2010
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Consumer Protection, Judge Dennis W. Shedd
The 2005 BAPCA eliminated the “ride-through” option that permitted Chapter 7 debtors who were current on their car loans to continue making payments and keep the car after bankruptcy discharge, and the 4th Circuit affirms a lower court’s decision to allow DaimlerChrysler to repossess a couple’s vehicle. The Joneses purchased a vehicle under a retail [...]
Search & Seizure – Traffic Stop – Protective Search – Felon In Possession
By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 4, 2010
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Dennis W. Shedd, Search & Seizure
When police responded to a report of a “man with a gun” and an informant at the motel identified defendant leaving in his white Cadillac as the man with the gun, an officer didn’t violate the Fourth Amendment he promptly stopped the car, frisked the defendant and conducted a protective search of the vehicle, where [...]
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