Where a defendant in a third-degree domestic-assault case challenged the admission of a 911 recording and of police body-camera footage, the trial court did not err in admitting the 911 tape because sufficient circumstantial evidence identified the caller, but the ...

Tagged with: 911 Recording Body-Cam Footage Criminal Law domestic assault

Defendant was convicted of various offenses related to her theft of funds from a medical practice for which defendant served as bookkeeper. On appeal, defendant argued that the district court erred by excluding exculpatory evidence in the form of the ...

Tagged with: Criminal Law exculpatory evidence Theft of Entrusted Funds Victim’s Destruction of Records

Where a defendant challenged his sentence after he violated the conditions of his supervised release, the judgment is affirmed because the district court accurately calculated the sentencing range, considered the applicable factors including medical needs and did not abuse its ...

Tagged with: Compliance Criminal Law Special Condition Supervised Release

Where a defendant argued that the district court erred in accepting his admission to violating a special condition of supervised release, the judgment is affirmed because the admission was knowing and voluntary, and the defendant affirmatively waived his challenge to ...

Tagged with: Admission Criminal Law Special Condition Supervised Release

Defendant was initially sentenced to 240 months’ incarceration for knowingly receiving child pornography, which was well below his advisory guidelines range. Defendant’s sentence was vacated on appeal after he successfully challenged the five-level enhancement to his offense level. On remand, ...

Tagged with: Criminal Law Imposition of Same Sentence on Remand Receiving Child Pornography Substantive Reasonableness of Sentence

Where a defendant, who was convicted on counts related to a conspiracy to distribute a human growth hormone, challenged the admission of a similar 1998 conviction, the judgment is affirmed because the admission was not an abuse of discretion because ...

Tagged with: Admission Criminal Law Prior Bad Acts Sentencing Enhancement

Defendant appealed from the denial of his motion for a mistrial after a prosecution witness violated the district court’s order prohibiting mention of any outstanding warrants against defendant. The district court instead struck the testimony and instructed the jury to ...

Tagged with: Criminal Law Improper Witness Testimony mistrial Possession with Intent to Distribute

Defendant pleaded guilty to a firearm offense and was sentenced to a prison term at the top of his calculated guidelines range. Defendant appealed, arguing the district court committed a procedural error at sentencing and imposed a substantively unreasonable sentence. ...

Tagged with: Criminal Law Firearms Offense Maximum Guidelines Range Sentence Substantive Reasonableness of Sentence

Defendant pleaded guilty to two firearms offenses. The district court sentenced defendant to two consecutive statutory-maximum terms; however, the aggregate sentence still fell within defendant’s guidelines range. Defendant appealed, challenging the reasonableness of his sentence. Where it was not unreasonable ...

Tagged with: Consecutive Statutory-Maximum Sentences Criminal Law Firearms Offenses Reasonableness of Sentence

Defendant pleaded guilty to domestic assault. At sentencing, the district court found defendant’s guidelines range to be 30 to 37 months. The court upward departed, concluding defendant’s criminal-history category under-represented the seriousness of his criminal history and imposed a one-month ...

Tagged with: Criminal History Category Criminal Law domestic assault Upward Departure

Defendant pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime and received a 15-year prison sentence and order to pay restitution. Defendant’s guilty plea included a term waiving his right to appeal any restitution order. Where terms ...

Tagged with: Criminal Law Discharging a Firearm restitution Waiver of Right to Appeal