Defendant pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of her 2-year-old son following her infliction of a fatal beating on her son. On appeal, defendant argued that her 480-month sentence was substantively unreasonable because the district court failed to ...

Tagged with: Criminal Law Defendant’s ‘Personal History and Characteristics’ second-degree murder Substantive Reasonableness of Sentence

Where a defendant challenged his conviction for first-degree robbery, the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction, but the trial court erred by omitting the definition of “dangerous instrument” from the instruction, so the judgment is reversed and remanded for ...

Tagged with: Criminal Law Dangerous Instrument Jury Instruction robbery

Where a defendant in a resisting-arrest case argued that the trial court erred when it allowed the state to read a statute and appellate-law cases during closing arguments, the court is responsible for instructing the jury on the applicable law, ...

Tagged with: Criminal Law Instructing the Jury Trial Court’s Role

Where a defendant challenged his conviction for class A first-degree child molestation, the defendant was convicted under Section 566.067, which specified that the molestation was part of a “ritual or ceremony” defined as an act or series of acts performed ...

Tagged with: child molestation Criminal Law Multiple Abusers ‘Ritual or Ceremony’

Where a defendant challenged jury instructions in his child-molestation case, the judgment is affirmed because the defendant did not show plain error, and his unpreserved double-jeopardy claim did not warrant review. Judgment is affirmed. State v. Stuckley (MLW No. 73217/Case ...

Tagged with: child molestation Criminal Law jury instructions

Where a defendant, who pleaded guilty to charges of DWI and second-degree assault of a law enforcement officer after he hit a police vehicle, challenged the denial of his motion for post-conviction relief based on his allegations of ineffective assistance ...

Tagged with: Criminal Law Ineffective Assistance Involuntary Guilty Plea Post-Conviction Relief

Where a defendant challenged his conviction for elder abuse after he punched an elderly neighbor, the defendant failed to append a challenged jury instruction so the point was not preserved for review, and the judgment is affirmed because the defendant ...

Tagged with: Criminal Law elder abuse Jury Instruction

Where a defendant in a drug case challenged the denial of his motion to suppress, a warrant application for a GPS tracker had more than sufficient information to establish probable cause, and the judgment is affirmed because the district court ...

Tagged with: Criminal Law GPS Tracker Probable Cause Warrant Application

Where a defendant challenged his sentence as substantively unreasonable, the judgment is affirmed because the district court properly considered the relevant factors, including the defendant’s rehabilitative efforts. Judgment is affirmed. U.S. v. Faulkner (MLW No. 73225/Case No. 18-2910 – 2 ...

Tagged with: Criminal Law sentencing Substantive Reasonableness

  Where a defendant, who pleaded guilty to drug-conspiracy charges, challenged his 234-month sentence, the district court did not abuse its discretion by accepting the sentencing guidelines, with a 10:1 ratio between pure methamphetamine and a meth mixture, despite other ...

Tagged with: Criminal Law sentencing Substance Calculations

Where a defendant challenged his sentence in a felon-in-possession case, the judgment is affirmed because there was no procedural error and the sentence was substantively reasonable. Judgment is affirmed. U.S. v. McBrayer (MLW No. 73207/Case No. 18-3381 – 2 pages) ...

Tagged with: Criminal Law Procedural Error sentencing