Justia Criminal Law Opinion Summaries

The case involves Sergio Manrique Gutierrez, a lawful permanent resident of the United States, who was convicted of carjacking under California law. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) upheld an Immigration Judge's (IJ) decision that Gutierrez was removable for having been convicted of an aggravated felony crime of violence and for having been convicted of two crimes of moral turpitude.The BIA held that Gutierrez's conviction for carjacking under California law is a categorical crime of violence. The BIA did not address the second ground for removal, concluding that Gutierrez waived his challenge to the moral turpitude removal charge. Gutierrez separately petitioned for review of the BIA’s denial of his motion to reopen his appeal.The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that California carjacking under Cal. Penal Code § 215(a) is not a categorical crime of violence. The court also concluded that the BIA erroneously determined that Gutierrez waived his challenge to the moral turpitude removal charge. The court remanded the case to the BIA to decide, in the first instance, whether Gutierrez is removable for having been convicted of two crimes of moral turpitude. The court dismissed Gutierrez’s petition for review of the IJ’s sua sponte reopening of his case to consider a change in the law. The court denied Gutierrez’s petition as to his remaining claims concerning the IJ’s adverse credibility finding, the discretionary denial of his application for waiver of admissibility, the denial of protection under the Convention Against Torture, and the BIA’s denial of his motion to reopen his case to consider new evidence that he was incompetent and to consider his ineffective assistance of counsel claim. View "GUTIERREZ v. GARLAND" on Justia Law

The case involves Katie Garding, who was convicted by a Montana jury of vehicular homicide while under the influence, failure to stop immediately at the scene of an accident involving an injured person, and driving without a valid driver’s license. Garding filed a habeas petition, arguing that her counsel was ineffective for not hiring an accident reconstruction expert and that the prosecution violated her rights by not disclosing certain evidence.The Montana Supreme Court rejected Garding's arguments. It held that her counsel's decision not to hire an accident reconstruction expert was within the wide range of professionally competent assistance. The court also found that the state had not suppressed evidence concerning x-rays of the victim and that Garding did not show that the non-disclosure of photos from a different car crash was material.Garding then sought federal habeas relief. The United States District Court for the District of Montana partially granted and partially denied her petition. It held that there was ineffective assistance of counsel but denied the Brady claims.The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s order denying Garding’s Brady claims and reversed its grant of Garding’s ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim. The court held that the Montana Supreme Court reasonably determined that Garding’s trial counsel was not constitutionally deficient and that her Brady claims lacked merit. View "Garding v. Montana Department of Corrections" on Justia Law

The case involves Vladimir Hernandez, who pleaded guilty to felony meth distribution charges. As part of his plea, Hernandez agreed to provide the government with all the information he knew about the crime in exchange for a potential lower sentence under the safety-valve sentencing provision. However, after entering his plea, Hernandez learned that other inmates might retaliate against him for his cooperation with the government. He then sought to withdraw his guilty plea, arguing that he would not have agreed to the plea deal if he had known about the potential danger in prison.The district court denied Hernandez's motion to withdraw his plea. The court accepted that Hernandez did not know about the potential danger at the time of his plea and that his request to withdraw was made in good faith. However, the court concluded that Hernandez could avoid the consequences of the safety-valve proffer by not proffering, and thus his concerns were not "fair and just" reasons for withdrawal.The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated the district court's order and remanded the case. The appellate court held that a defendant must first offer in good faith a "new" basis for seeking to withdraw his plea, meaning that he subjectively did not know this "new" reason for withdrawal at the time of his plea. He then must show that objectively he could not have known or anticipated this "new" material reason. The appellate court found that the district court did not err in concluding that Hernandez offered in good faith a subjectively new basis for withdrawing his plea. However, the district court did not decide whether objectively Hernandez could have known about or anticipated this new and material reason for withdrawing the plea. The appellate court remanded the case for the district court to decide that issue. View "United States v. Hernandez" on Justia Law

The case involves Angelo Corey Stackhouse, who was convicted of kidnapping a minor and transporting a person across state lines with the intent to engage in illegal sexual activity. Stackhouse kidnapped a 10-year-old girl, using a cellphone during the crime, and transported a 19-year-old woman from Montana to Denver, where he sexually assaulted her.Previously, the United States District Court for the District of Montana convicted Stackhouse on all seven charges. He appealed his convictions for kidnapping a person under the age of 18 using a means or instrumentality of interstate commerce, and for the transportation of a person across state lines with intent to engage in illegal sexual activity.The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed Stackhouse’s convictions. The court held that the application of the federal kidnapping statute to an intrastate kidnapping is constitutional where the defendant uses a cellphone—an instrumentality of interstate commerce—in furtherance of the offense. The court also held that the government presented sufficient evidence of Stackhouse’s intent to commit sexual assault when he transported the victim of his assault across state lines. The court concluded that the application of the federal kidnapping statute to an intrastate kidnapping is constitutional where the defendant uses a cellphone in furtherance of the offense, and that Stackhouse’s actions leading up to and during the trip to Denver established that he had the intent to commit illegal sexual activity when he transported the victim interstate. View "USA V. STACKHOUSE" on Justia Law

Christopher Grimes, a California state inmate, was convicted of second-degree murder. The conviction was based, in part, on statements Grimes made to an undercover jailhouse informant after he had invoked his Fifth Amendment right to counsel. Grimes appealed his conviction, arguing that his statements to the informant should have been suppressed because they were obtained in violation of his right to counsel.The California Court of Appeal affirmed Grimes' conviction. It held that the statements were admissible because law enforcement is not required to give Miranda warnings to a suspect before placing them in a jail cell with an undercover informant. This decision was based on the U.S. Supreme Court case Illinois v. Perkins, which held that the policy underlying Miranda is not implicated when a suspect makes statements to an individual they believe is a fellow inmate. Grimes' petition for review before the California Supreme Court was denied without comment.Grimes then filed a federal habeas petition, arguing that the California Court of Appeal misapplied Edwards v. Arizona, which held that law enforcement must cease custodial interrogation when a suspect invokes their right to counsel unless they subsequently waive that right. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of Grimes' habeas petition. The court held that because the Supreme Court has never squarely addressed whether the Fifth Amendment precludes an undercover jailhouse informant posing as an inmate to question an incarcerated suspect who has previously invoked his right to counsel, the California Court of Appeal’s decision is not contrary to, or an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law as defined by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. View "Grimes v. Phillips" on Justia Law

John Russell Howald was convicted for a federal hate crime under 18 U.S.C. § 249(a)(2) and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A). Howald had fired shots at a local woman's house in Basin, Montana, with the intent to "rid" the town of "lesbians and gays." The firearms and ammunition used in the offense had traveled across state lines.In the United States District Court for the District of Montana, Howald moved to dismiss both counts of the indictment, arguing that § 249(a)(2) exceeded Congress’s Commerce Clause power and that his § 249(a)(2) hate crime conviction was not a predicate crime of violence for § 924(c)(1)(A). The district court upheld the charges and rejected Howald's arguments.On appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Howald reiterated his arguments. The appellate court held that the jurisdictional element in § 249(a)(2)(B)(iii) defeated the facial challenge to the statute's constitutionality. The court also rejected the as-applied challenge because the government had proven that the firearms and ammunition used in the offense had traveled across state lines. Furthermore, the court held that § 249(a)(2) is divisible, and that Howald’s offense is categorically a crime of violence because an attempt to kill in violation of § 249(a)(2)(A)(ii)(II) necessarily involves the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another per § 924(c)(3)(A). Therefore, the court affirmed Howald's convictions. View "United States v. Howald" on Justia Law

The case involves Chad Alan Lee, who was convicted and sentenced to death for three murders. Lee filed a habeas corpus petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2254, arguing that his trial counsel was constitutionally ineffective at sentencing because he failed to investigate and present mitigating evidence that Lee suffered from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effect. Lee also argued that the Arizona Supreme Court erred by requiring him to establish a causal nexus between his crimes and his mitigating evidence.The district court denied Lee's petition and his motion for leave to amend. The court found that Lee's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel was procedurally defaulted because he did not raise it in his postconviction relief petition. The court also found that Lee's proposed claim that the Arizona Supreme Court erred was untimely, procedurally defaulted, and without merit.On appeal, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's decision. The court held that Lee's theories for obtaining a federal evidentiary hearing notwithstanding 28 U.S.C. § 2254(e)(2), which places strict limits on when federal courts can hold evidentiary hearings and consider new evidence, lacked merit. The court also held that even if Lee could demonstrate cause to excuse the procedural default, he could not demonstrate prejudice. The court further held that the district court correctly denied leave to add Lee's proposed claim because it was untimely under 28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1), procedurally defaulted, and lacked merit. View "LEE V. THORNELL" on Justia Law

The case involves Gerardo Farias-Contreras, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and heroin. As part of the plea agreement, the government agreed to dismiss two other charges and not to recommend a sentence exceeding the low-end of the guideline range. Farias-Contreras argued for a six-level reduction in the base offense level, resulting in a guidelines range of 108–135 months, citing his many physical disabilities. The government, after reducing the base offense level by three levels, calculated a guidelines range of 151–188 months and recommended a 151-month term.The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington sentenced Farias-Contreras to 188 months' imprisonment, citing substantially the facts and argument presented by the government. Farias-Contreras appealed, arguing that the government implicitly breached its promise under the plea agreement not to recommend a sentence in excess of the low-end of the sentencing guidelines range when the government implicitly urged the district court to impose a harsher sentence.The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the sentence. The court found that the government's conduct crossed the line from permissible advocacy to an improper end-run of the plea agreement, thus implicitly breaching its promise not to recommend a sentence in excess of the low-end of the calculated guideline range. However, the court concluded that the error was not plain because the court's precedent does not make sufficiently clear to what extent the government may respond to a defendant’s request for a downward departure without implicitly breaching the plea agreement. The court took the opportunity to clarify its law on the subject. View "USA V. FARIAS-CONTRERAS" on Justia Law

A class of indigent criminal defendants in Oregon, who were incarcerated and awaiting trial without legal representation, filed a federal habeas corpus petition. They argued that the state's failure to provide them with counsel violated their Sixth Amendment rights. The district court issued a preliminary injunction requiring that counsel be provided within seven days of the initial appearance, and if this did not occur, the defendants must be released from custody subject to reasonable conditions imposed by Oregon Circuit Court judges.The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's decision. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that the petitioners were likely to succeed on the merits of their Sixth Amendment claim. The court reasoned that without counsel, the petitioners could not understand, prepare for, or progress to critical stages of their cases. The court also held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that the petitioners were suffering and would continue to suffer irreparable harm. The court found that the public has an interest in a functioning criminal justice system and the protection of fundamental rights. View "Betschart v. Washington County Circuit Court Judges" on Justia Law

The case involved Chanel Wiley, who was convicted for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. During jury selection, Wiley's ankle monitor, which she was wearing as a condition of her pretrial release, started beeping. Wiley argued that this incident prejudiced her and warranted a new trial.The district court judge acknowledged hearing the alert but did not believe the jurors knew what the sound was. After the monitor beeped again, the judge ordered a recess and had the monitor removed outside the presence of the jury. Wiley was subsequently convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and acquitted of distributing methamphetamine.On appeal, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit assumed that at least one juror concluded that the beeping sound meant Wiley was wearing an ankle monitor. However, the court held that ankle monitors are not inherently prejudicial under the standards set by previous cases, including Deck v. Missouri and Holbrook v. Flynn. The court reasoned that ankle monitors are less obtrusive and do not create the same perception of the defendant as shackles do. The court also found that Wiley failed to prove that she was actually prejudiced by the beeping ankle monitor. Therefore, the court affirmed the conviction. View "USA V. WILEY" on Justia Law