Denial of Postconviction Relief Remanded for ‘Fresh Analysis’

Admission of Jacket, DNA Evidence Upheld

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 9, 2012
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge Robert B. King

The government didn’t need “FBI star power” in this open-and-shut drug case, but the trial court didn’t err in admitting defendant’s black jacket and the FBI expert’s DNA analysis to connect defendant to the jacket, and the 4th Circuit affirms defendant’s convictions of drug trafficking and firearms charges. The trial court did not err in [...]

Lawyer Gets Public Admonition for Misrepresentations

By Deborah Elkins
Published: December 13, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Attorneys, Judge Robert B. King

A New York lawyer with 33 years’ experience and an “AV rating,” who acted as court-appointed counsel in successfully appealing his client’s sentence for wire fraud and identity theft, has received a public admonition from the 4th Circuit for multiple misrepresentations in his representation of his client on appeal, including an assertion that the trial [...]

New Trial for S.C. Death-Row Defendant

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 29, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge Robert B. King

A mentally retarded African-American handyman who was 23 years old when he was accused of the 1982 murder of a 75-year-old wealthy white woman for whom he did odd jobs is entitled to a new trial, as his trial lawyers’ “blind acceptance of the State’s forensic evidence” demonstrated constitutionally ineffective assistance of counsel, says the [...]

Persecuted Activist’s Asylum Claim Remanded

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 14, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Immigration, Judge Robert B. King

A citizen of Cameroon who was a university student newspaper editor and political activist in a Southern Cameroon independence movement, who was repeatedly arrested and beaten for her activism, has her case challenging denial of asylum remanded by the 4th Circuit so she may again seek protection under the United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT). [...]

Marine’s Claim Against Contractor Fails

By Deborah Elkins
Published: September 28, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Robert B. King, Negligence

The 4th Circuit affirms dismissal of a U.S. Marine’s negligence action against a government contractor for his severe injuries from electrocution while serving on an American military base in Iraq, on the basis that an adjudication of the Marine’s claim would necessarily implicate a political question which federal courts lack jurisdiction to decide; the appellate [...]

‘Small Motor’ Energy Conservation Reg Upheld

By Deborah Elkins
Published: August 17, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative, Judge Robert B. King

The 4th Circuit upholds the Department of Energy’s energy conservation standards for electric induction motors that classify “small electric motors” as motors with a power output from .25 to 3 horsepower, despite a challenge from an industry trade association that says a federal statute clearly excludes from regulation all motors exceeding 1 hp. The National [...]

Dismissal Order Vacated in ‘Sexually Dangerous Person’ Cases

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 8, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge Robert B. King

In this action by the government seeking civil commitment of nine federal prisoners as “sexually dangerous persons” under 18 U.S.C. § 4248, the 4th Circuit says the district court erred in dismissing the proceeding on the ground that, for these prisoners whose sentences included terms of supervised release, the government should have proceeded under § [...]

Court Erred in Applying ‘Excessive Fines’ Clause to Forfeiture

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 8, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge Robert B. King

The 4th Circuit affirms the judgment that an Ethiopian citizen engaged in illegal currency structuring through his deposits into two different banks in Fairfax, Va., but the appellate court says the district court erred in reducing the corresponding civil forfeiture of appellant’s funds from $79,650 to $50,000 on Eighth Amendment grounds. During the trial, appellant [...]

Failure to Suppress Confession Was Ineffective Assistance

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 27, 2011
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge Robert B. King

The 4th Circuit upholds a writ of habeas corpus for Derek Tice, one of the “Norfolk Four” convicted of the rape and murder of Michelle Bosko, and says the Supreme Court of Virginia misapplied the Strickland standard for ineffective assistance of counsel, in considering the failure of Tice’s trial lawyers to suppress his confession. Appellant [...]