The district court did not err in sentencing the defendant to a longer term because of three prior convictions for criminal domestic violence, because those convictions categorically qualified as a “violent felony” under the Armed Career Criminal Act, or ACCA. ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

Where a defendant who was being held at a county jail admitted to distributing methamphetamine during questioning by his parole officer, it did not violate the Fifth Amendment to use that admission to prove that the defendant violated his supervised ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

By the unambiguous terms of a plea agreement, the government had discretion to determine whether the defendant had complied with his obligation under the agreement to give full and complete testimony when asked. Given this discretion, it was not required ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Contract Criminal Judge William B. Traxler Jr. Sentencing

Based on thorough analysis by Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality, the state Water Control Board had a sufficient basis to certify reasonable assurance that the Mountain Valley Pipeline Project – and the restrictions and protective measures it included – would ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Administrative Environmental Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

After the initial trial judge’s retirement, the re-assignment judge erred in reconsidering and effectively reversing a highly fact-dependent decision to recognize the defendants’ immunity from suit. The reconsideration exceeded the bounds of Rule 54. Background Defendants Jason Carpenter, Christopher Small, ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Civil Procedure Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

Because not all of the offenses encompassed under Maryland’s theft statute qualify as crimes involving moral turpitude, the Board of Immigration Appeals erred in concluding that the petitioner committed such crimes and was thus ineligible for cancellation of removal. Background ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Immigration Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

A Salvadoran man in the U.S. illegally was ineligible for asylum, based on the re-instatement of a removal order resulting from his previous illegal entry. The re-instated order barred his application even if the supporting circumstances had not yet occurred ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Immigration Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

The district court did not err in finding that a developmentally disabled individual, civilly committed as a sexually violent predator, no longer met the criteria for continued commitment and must be released. Background Appellant Walter Wooden was born in 1956 ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

Although the defendant claimed that he could control his pedophilic impulses and that his past behavior was limited to mere exhibition, not “hands-on offenses,” the district court properly found him to be a “sexually dangerous person.” Background Appellant Kaylan Bell ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Civil commitment Criminal Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

An officer lacked reasonable suspicion to prolong an early-morning traffic stop, despite the apparent nervousness of the driver and passenger, the driver’s claim that he’d just purchased the vehicle despite being unemployed, and evidence of a long-distance trip inconsistent with ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Criminal Judge William B. Traxler Jr. Search & Seizure