U. S. Supreme Court Happenings, Favorable Federal Circuit Opinions and President Trump Formally Announces Alice Marie Johnson Will Be His "Pardon Czar" -- for the Week of February 17-21, 2025--
U. S. Supreme Court Happenings– Week Ending February 21, 2025 –
There is no conference being held this week by the Justices.
Favorable Federal Circuit Opinions for the Week of February 17-21, 2025 –4th Circuit
In re: Scott Lewis Rendelman, (No. 23-257)(4th Cir. February 21, 2025)– In 2008, Rendelman was convicted for mailing threatening communications under 18 U.S.C. § 876(c). The district court instructed the jury that the government need prove only that a “reasonable person” would find Rendelman’s communications threatening. In 2023, the Supreme Court held in Counterman v. Colorado, 600 U.S. 66 (2023), that the First Amendment requires the government to prove—in true threats cases—that the defendant was subjectively aware of the threatening nature of his statements. Id. at 73. Rendelman sought authorization to file a successive 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion to vacate his conviction based on Counterman. The government agreed that Rendelman has satisfied the gatekeeping requirements in 28 U.S.C. § 2255(h). Because Rendelman has satisfied the gatekeeping requirements, the Court granted his motion seeking authorization to file a successive § 2255 motion.
United States v. Garrett, (No. 22-4407)(4th Cir. February 19, 2025)– Garrett withdrew his pending suppression motion, accepted a plea deal, and pled guilty to three charges arising from a drug trafficking investigation in Wilson County, North Carolina. After he was sentenced, he learned about information in a government disclosure that, he contended, unearthed evidence of egregious police misconduct that affected the prosecution’s integrity, and prosecutorial misconduct that blocked his ability to understand the case against him. Throughout the investigation, law enforcement maintained that CI-1 provided information that McDuffie, or “Duff,” was selling drugs. Internal records stated that CI-1 provided information that a person with the nickname “Dutch,” with no known government name, was selling drugs. Dutch was Garrett’s known alias. In other words, the record reveals a factual discrepancy between what the warrants represented transpired in this investigation and what law enforcement records show after the mix-up was discovered. Law enforcement may not change a story it has already established after that story is called into question—at least not without a justifiable explanation. Here, the Court had to decide whether the newly discovered information renders Garrett’s plea involuntary. The Court found that a reasonable defendant standing in Garrett’s shoes would not have pled guilty had he or she known all the relevant information. Therefore, Garrett’s plea was involuntary and is now vacated and remanded for further proceedings.
5th Circuit
United States v. Ashley, (No. 23-40482) (5th Cir. February 18, 2025)– Ashley was charged and convicted on 17 counts of violating federal law, including mail and wire fraud, Hobbs Act robbery, and bank theft for operating a Ponzi scheme and allegedly murdering one of his clients in order to steal funds from the client’s bank account and benefit from the client’s life insurance proceeds. The district court sentenced Ashley to 240 months’ imprisonment to run consecutively for each of 15 counts of wire and mail fraud and imposed life sentences for his convictions of Hobbs Act robbery and bank theft. On appeal, Ashley challenged the sufficiency of the evidence for most of his convictions. After obtaining convictions on all counts, the government concedes on appeal that there was insufficient evidence to convict Ashley of five counts and that the life-sentence enhancement for his conviction of bank theft did not apply. Because the Court agreed that several convictions were not supported by sufficient evidence and that the life-sentence enhancement does not apply, the Court vacated and remanded for resentencing and any other proceedings.
10th Circuit
United States v. Goldesberry, (No. 23-5008)(10th Cir. February 19, 2025)– Goldesberry appeals his conviction after a jury trial for aggravated abuse in Indian Country, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1151, 1153, and 2241(c). He urges reversal on two grounds. First, Mr. Goldesberry contends the evidence was legally insufficient to sustain the verdict. The Court concluded the government’s evidence was not sufficient to establish beyond a reasonable doubt the knowledge element of the charged offense, so the Court vacated Goldesberry’s conviction and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
OTHER NEWSPresident Trump Formally Announces Alice Marie Johnson Will Be His "Pardon Czar" --
As reported Reuters news service, "Donald Trump on Thursday said he had made Alice Johnson, a Tennessee woman who was serving a life sentence for a drug crime before Trump commuted her
sentence, a 'pardon czar' to advise him on further acts of clemency." Here is more:
Trump made the announcement at a Black History Month reception at the White House, roughly four weeks after he returned to office and began implementing sweeping rollbacks of diversity,
equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives across the federal government. Trump, who commuted Johnson's life sentence in 2018 and granted her a full pardon in 2020, asked her to advise him on
other cases where pardons were warranted. "Alice was in prison for doing something that today probably wouldn't even be prosecuted," Trump told the crowd of mostly African American
supporters, including golfer Tiger Woods, who joined the president on stage. "You've been an inspiration to people, and we're going to be listening to your recommendation on pardons," he
said to Johnson. "You're going to find people just like you."
Based on the above executive order, Alert2020 believes that anyone who was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm and has a non- drug and non -violent predicate prior conviction should opt to have us look at their case to see if they may be able to challenge their § 922(g) conviction.
In light of the recent En Banc Third Circuit decisions in Range and Daniels, and the recent decisions in Sixth, Eighth and Ninth Circuit, we suggest that anyone with a non-violent non-drug conviction where they were charged under § 922(g) should opt for the quick lookup we are extending this offer through February of 2025. In addition, the First, Fourth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits have determined that district courts may consider § 403(a)’s non-retroactive changes in combination with other factors presented by an incarcerated person. These Circuits effectively allow district courts to consider an incarcerated person’s stacked charges as an extraordinary and compelling reason, so long as they present another factor that may warrant compassionate release. In order to conduct the lookup, we will need an outside contact’s name and telephone number, where you went to court, and your case number. We will get in touch with your contact and let them know if you have any potential relief available from the above remedies. Our case evaluation telephone number for the above is (832) 346-0220.
For the last 30 years, we have been very successful on direct appeals, 2255 motions, 2241 Petitions, First Step Act and Compassionate Release Motions, Earned Time Credits, DC Superior Court Petitions, State Post Conviction, Clemencies and Pardons and other specialized motions to mention a few avenues for relief we cover. The WCE is an excellent low-cost tool to see what can be done for you at any stage of the proceedings. It is thorough and detailed from day one of your case to present with our recommendations of any remedies available to you to gain relief.
If you are serious about fighting your case and want us to evaluate your case to see if you may have relief coming, request a Written Case
Evaluation.