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Criminal Law: Robbery-Ineffective Assistance of Plea Counsel
Defendant appealed from the denial of his motion to set aside his convictions for robbery and armed criminal action. Defendant alleged ineffective assistance of plea counsel in failing to act as intermediary in plea negotiations and in representing defendant under an actual conflict of interest. The trial court denied defendant’s motion, finding that he had […]
Criminal: Robbery-Ineffective Assistance of Trial Counsel
Defendant appealed from the denial of his motion for post-conviction relief, in which he argued that trial counsel was ineffective in his robbery trial by pursuing as his sole defense a legal theory that had been foreclosed by judicial precedent and by not attempting to negotiate a plea agreement Where trial counsel’s strategy was not […]
Criminal Law: Sentencing-Prior Convictions-Robbery
Where a defendant challenged the application of the Armed Career Criminal Act to his sentence, the Missouri second-degree robbery statute satisfied the force clause of the act, so the district court did not err in classifying the conviction as a violent felony and the sentence is affirmed. Judgment is affirmed. U.S. v. Clark (MLW No. […]
Criminal Law: Robbery-Diminished Capacity-Mental Disease
Where defendant challenged his convictions for first-degree robbery and armed criminal action, the judgment is affirmed because the defendant failed to show that he suffered from a diminished capacity at the time of the crime, and he failed to produce substantial evidence that his alleged mental condition negated his mental culpability for robbery, so the […]
Criminal Law: Robbery-Ballistics Expert-Propensity Evidence
Where a defendant challenged his convictions for robbery and armed criminal action, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying his motion to exclude gun and ballistics conclusions because the state exercised diligence and good faith in making disclosures, and the judgment is affirmed because the court did not abuse its discretion in […]
Criminal Law: Sentencing-ACCA-Robbery
Where a defendant challenged his sentence in a robbery case, the judgment is affirmed because the defendant’s Minnesota conviction for first-degree aggravated robbery constituted a crime of violence for purposes of the Armed Career Criminal Act. Judgment is affirmed. U.S. v. Robinson (MLW No. 73338/Case No. 18-1420 – 3 pages) (U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th […]
Criminal Law: Robbery-Jury Instruction-‘Dangerous Instrument’
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 the state to retry the defendant or to agree to conviction on a lesser offense. […]
Criminal Law: Robbery-Hobbs Act-Crime of Violence
Where a defendant who was convicted of robbery under the Hobbs Act and unlawful possession of a weapon challenged the admission of evidence of him wearing clothes similar to those worn by the perpetrator, the evidence was properly admitted as relevant, non-character evidence under Rules 401 and 402 and it was relevant on the issue […]
Criminal Law: Robbery-Motion to Vacate Conviction-Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
Defendant pled guilty to robbery. Thereafter, defendant moved to vacate his conviction, alleging his counsel was ineffective for misadvising defendant about the immigration consequences of a guilty plea. The district court denied defendant’s motion without an evidentiary hearing. Where counsel allegedly advised defendant he would not be deported and where such advice was clearly […[...]
Criminal Law: Robbery-Violation of Supervised Release-Substantive Reasonableness of Sentence
Defendant committed a robbery while on supervised release from a prior bank robbery conviction. The district court sentenced defendant to an upward variance from the guidelines range. On appeal, defendant challenged his sentence as substantively unreasonable. Where the district court was presumed to consider all mitigating evidence in defendant’s sentencing memorandum and cited the [&hell[...]
Criminal Law: Robbery-Facebook Video Evidence-Aiding and Abetting
Where a defendant who was found guilty of bank robbery challenged the admission of Facebook videos that showed him displaying guns and ammunition, the district court did not err in admitting the videos as intrinsic evidence under Rule 404(b), and the judgment is affirmed because the defendant specifically requested a jury instruction on aiding and […]
Criminal Law: Robbery-Armed Career Criminal-Predicate Offense
Defendant moved to vacate his sentence, challenging application of the Armed Career Criminal Act. Defendant argued that his prior Missouri conviction for robbery did not qualify as a predicate offense after the Supreme Court’s ruling in Johnson v. U.S., 135 S.Ct. 2551. Where court had previously ruled that, under current case law, a Missouri conviction […]
Latest Opinion Digests
- Immigration: Asylum-Withholding of Removal-Appellate Jurisdiction
- Criminal Law: Child Pornography-Bottom-of-Guidelines Sentence-Substantive Reasonableness of Sentence
- Criminal Law: Child Abuse-Sufficiency Of Evidence-Closing Argument
- Civil Rights: Religious Freedom-RLUIPA-Res Judicata
- Civil Practice: Res Judicata-Stop Work Order
- Immigration: Drug Conviction-Removability-Overbreadth of State Offense
- Civil Practice: Asset Forfeiture-Sanctions
- Civil Rights: Due Process-Failure to State Claim
- Probate : Revocable Trust – Amendment – Reformation
- Employer – Employee : Unpaid Commissions – At-Will Status
- Criminal Law : Post-Conviction Relief – Effectiveness Of Counsel – Conflict Of Interest
- Appellate Practice : Jurisdiction – Final Judgment
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