jury-instruction

261 cases — ← All topics

Case Title Lower Court Docketed Status Flags Tags Question Presented
25-6809 Michael Wayne Keller v. Chadwick Dotson, Director, Virginia Department of Corrections Fourth Circuit 2026-02-13 Pending IFP commonwealth-instruction heat-of-passion jury-instruction legal-standard malice-definition trial-court-error 1) Was the definition of malice given to the jury a proper Virginia model jury instruction defining heat of passion? 2) Did counsel for appellant req…
25A853 Joseph Sullivan v. United States Ninth Circuit 2026-01-30 Application criminal-prosecution data-security jury-instruction nexus-requirement obstruction-of-justice statutory-interpretation Question not identified.
25A838 United States v. Jason Robert Hopson Tenth Circuit 2026-01-21 Application felony-assault indian-country jury-instruction lesser-included-offense major-crimes-act subject-matter-jurisdiction Question not identified.
25-748 Kevin McCarthy, Superintendent, Elmira Correctional Facility v. Pedro Hernandez Second Circuit 2025-12-23 Pending aedpa jury-deliberations jury-instruction pretrial-suppression seibert-rule state-court-findings The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) prohibits federal courts from invalidating a state conviction unless there is both a legal e…
25-6378 Kriston Price v. Ohio Ohio 2025-12-16 Pending IFP aggravated-murder criminal-procedure fourteenth-amendment jury-instruction self-defense sixth-amendment 1. Whether sufficient evidence existed to reject the defense of self defense where the defendant was violently attacked, beaten, and through the a mir…
25-6346 Corey Gaynor v. Ken Hollibaugh, Superintendent, State Correctional Institution at Somerset, et al. Third Circuit 2025-12-11 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-violation due-process fourteenth-amendment ineffective-assistance jury-instruction sixth-amendment 1. Whether trial counsel was ineffective and the trial court s unconstitutional jury instruction derived from Pennsylvania's consolidated statute 18 P…
25-6223 Daniel Kroeker v. United States Tenth Circuit 2025-11-24 Pending Response RequestedResponse WaivedIFP child-pornography criminal-statute dost-factors jury-instruction lascivious-exhibition sexual-offense Whether, in a non-production child-pornography prosecution under 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(2), a trial court should define the phrase "lascivious exhibitio…
25-5991 Jairo Arnaldo Jacome v. United States Fourth Circuit 2025-10-30 Denied Response WaivedIFP circuit-split criminal-procedure due-process harmless-error jury-instruction structural-error I. Does a district court's failure to instruct a jury in open court result in structural error, automatically producing a violation of a defendant's s…
25-5985 Anne M. Lynch v. United States First Circuit 2025-10-29 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-law fiduciary-duty honest-services-fraud jury-instruction prosecutorial-discretion statutory-vagueness Whether petitioner's payment violated the honest-services fraud statute? Whether the district court's erroneous fiduciary duty jury instruction requi…
25-520 Alan Howell Parrot v. United States First Circuit 2025-10-28 Denied Response Waived assault-on-officer domicile-entry federal-statute jury-instruction law-enforcement mistake-of-fact In an Assault on an Officer prosecution brought pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 111, is a mistake of fact jury instruction warranted by virtue of United State…
25-5965 Samson Kanla Orusa v. United States Sixth Circuit 2025-10-27 Rehearing Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP circuit-split controlled-substance-prescription health-care-fraud jury-instruction medical-purpose subjective-knowledge I. Whether the district court's erroneous instructions regarding what constitutes criminal liability under 21 U.S.C. section 841 (illegal distribution…
25-5907 Cory Collin Fitzgerald Sanders v. United States Fourth Circuit 2025-10-16 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-procedure evidence-inference guilty-knowledge jury-instruction specific-intent willful-intent In a federal criminal prosecution that requires proof of specific intent, may a court instruct the jury that it may infer willful intent or guilty kno…
25-5899 Michael Keith Marechale v. United States Eighth Circuit 2025-10-15 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review circuit-split criminal-procedure invited-error jury-instruction waiver "Courts of Appeals have stated . . . under the 'invited error' doctrine that a party may not complain on appeal of errors that he himself invited or p…
25A383 Devon Chance v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2025-10-02 Presumed Complete categorical-approach circuit-conflict crime-of-violence hobbs-act jury-instruction section-924(c) Whether a Hobbs Act robbery conviction qualifies as a 'crime of violence' under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3)(A) based on the categorical approach after Unite…
25-5454 Marquis Luis Rosado v. Florida Florida 2025-08-22 Denied IFP constitutional-violation controlled-substance criminal-law fentanyl-distribution jury-instruction trial-court Whether the trial court violated the United States Constitution by deviating from Florida's standard jury instruction on death by unlawful distributio…
25-5386 Aurelias Marshall v. Adam Douglas, Warden Sixth Circuit 2025-08-18 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP constitutional-violation de-novo-review habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance jury-instruction procedural-default Whether the Federal Court of Appeals properly reviewed the district court's procedural default ruling de novo and whether the state procedural rule wa…
25-5385 Eric Deon Rollins v. Texas Texas 2025-08-15 Denied IFP affirmative-defense constitutional-rights criminal-defendant due-process jury-instruction state-trial-court Whether a criminal defendant is deprived of constitutional rights when a state trial court refuses to instruct the jury on the affirmative defenses of…
25-160 Julian Omidi and Surgery Center Management, LLC v. United States Ninth Circuit 2025-08-11 Denied Relisted (2) appellate-review consent-element criminal-statute identity-theft jury-instruction mens-rea Whether the government must prove that the defendant used a means of identification without the consent of its owner to sustain an aggravated identity…
25-5264 Craig Alan Sandhaus v. Florida Florida 2025-08-04 Denied Response WaivedIFP fourteenth-amendment ineffective-assistance jury-instruction nondeadly-force sixth-amendment trial-counsel Whether the Petitioner's Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated when his trial attorneys failed to request a jury instruction on the just…
25A124 Steven Nicholas Fulton v. United States Fourth Circuit 2025-07-29 Presumed Complete appellate-reversal criminal-procedure felony-status jury-instruction prior-conviction standard-of-review Whether a district court's determination of a defendant's prior felony conviction status is a question of law to be decided by the court, not submitte…
25-5223 Burte Gucci Rhodes v. United States Ninth Circuit 2025-07-29 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-conviction interstate-commerce jury-instruction legal-sufficiency murder-for-hire procedural-error Whether a conviction for murder-for-hire can properly be affirmed when the jury was instructed that it need not conclude an interstate facility was us…
25-5230 Victor Samuel Brito v. United States Ninth Circuit 2025-07-29 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-procedure due-process fifth-amendment jury-instruction necessity-defense sixth-amendment Whether the Fifth and Sixth Amendments guarantee a criminal defendant the right to have a jury consider and give effect to a necessity defense when th…
25-5212 Jacquel O'Neal v. Texas Texas 2025-07-28 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-rights criminal-procedure effective-assistance jury-instruction sixth-amendment statutory-defense Does the Sixth Amendment's guarantee of effective assistance of counsel require an attorney to request a jury instruction on the sole statutory defens…
25-5079 Leon Carter v. Bradley Mlodzik, Warden Seventh Circuit 2025-07-10 Denied IFP counsel-deprivation ex-parte-communication fourteenth-amendment habeas-corpus jury-instruction sixth-amendment Whether a writ of habeas corpus should issue when a bailiff ex parte reinstructed the jury in a criminal trial, depriving the defendant of counsel at …
25A18 Juan Carlos Sandoval-Rodriguez v. United States Fourth Circuit 2025-07-08 Presumed Complete constitutional-standard criminal-trial due-process fourth-circuit jury-instruction reasonable-doubt Whether the Due Process Clause requires trial courts to provide a definition of 'reasonable doubt' to a jury upon request in criminal proceedings
25-5013 Tawhyne M. Patterson, Sr. v. United States Eighth Circuit 2025-07-02 Denied Response WaivedIFP circuit-court-review firearms-conspiracy jury-instruction plain-error predicate-offense substantial-rights Whether the Eighth Circuit erred in determining two alleged predicate offenses were 'so inextricably intertwined' that no rational juror could have fo…
24-7450 Zachery James Edward Rowe v. United States Ninth Circuit 2025-06-17 Denied Response WaivedIFP buyer-seller-rule complete-defense criminal-procedure drug-conspiracy jury-instruction sixth-amendment Whether the Ninth Circuit's decision affirming the refusal to give a buyer-seller instruction in a drug conspiracy case conflicts with this Court's ho…
24-7435 Antonio Nathaniel Davenport, Jr. v. United States Fourth Circuit 2025-06-16 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (5)IFP criminal-law jury-instruction murder-statute north-carolina-law statutory-interpretation trial-procedure Whether the Trial Court Erred by Failing to Give A Properly Requested Jury Instruction as to the North Carolina Crime of Murder in Violation of N.C. G…
24-7109 Justin Miles Ness v. United States Tenth Circuit 2025-05-01 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-procedure evidence-standard judicial-discretion jury-instruction plain-error temporal-scope Whether a district court's response of 'You have all the evidence you need to render your verdict' constitutes a plainly improper jury instruction whe…
24-7074 Miguel Angel Ortiz v. Texas Texas 2025-04-25 Denied IFP burden-of-proof constitutional-law criminal-procedure due-process element-of-offense jury-instruction Whether the language in a recurring jury instruction violates due process by failing to prove every element of the offense charged
24-6979 Gregory Hearns v. United States Ninth Circuit 2025-04-14 Denied Response WaivedIFP district-court evidence-admission government-duty judicial-responsibility jury-instruction jury-note When a jury note indicates a factual misunderstanding concerning a key piece of evidence admitted by the government, do the government and the distric…
24-1071 Jose Angel Garcia v. New Mexico, et al. New Mexico 2025-04-10 Denied Response Waived criminal-procedure ineffective-assistance jury-instruction medical-evidence sixth-amendment trial-counsel Whether Petitioner Garcia's Sixth Amendment right to counsel was deprived by his trial attorney's failure to present exculpatory evidence and challeng…
24-6654 Willie Alsha Hill v. United States Ninth Circuit 2025-02-26 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review criminal-procedure indictment jury-instruction multiple-conspiracies trial-rights Whether a multiple conspiracies instruction cannot, as a matter of law, be given where a defendant proceeds to trial alone
24-6573 Isaac Garcia Bracamontes v. California California 2025-02-14 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process evidence-inference jury-instruction sex-offense Are the inferences of likely guilt and of actual guilt from a finding of disposition to commit sex offenses in California's standard criminal jury ins…
24-6430 Maurice Fleming v. Georgia Georgia 2025-01-30 Denied IFP accomplice-testimony criminal-conviction due-process jury-instruction legal-principles statutory-interpretation Whether the trial court's failure to provide a requested jury instruction on an accomplice's testimony requires reversal of a criminal conviction when…
24-6407 Samuel Tanel Crittenden v. United States Fifth Circuit 2025-01-28 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review criminal-procedure district-court fifth-circuit jury-instruction sufficiency-of-evidence Whether a conviction should be reversed and remanded for a new trial when a district court erroneously fails to give a jury instruction, despite suffi…
24A737 Frank Bell, Tyson Rhame, and James Shaw v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2025-01-27 Presumed Complete criminal-statute intent-to-defraud jury-instruction mail-fraud property-rights wire-fraud Whether a misrepresentation about a transaction that does not directly impact the fundamental characteristics or price of the property can constitute …
24-6354 Shelben T. Curtis v. Ron Neal, Warden Seventh Circuit 2025-01-22 Denied Response WaivedIFP ineffective-assistance jury-instruction retroactive-application sixth-amendment sudden-heat voluntary-manslaughter Whether the lower courts unreasonably applied Brantley retroactively when deciding if counsel's ineffectiveness denied Sixth Amendment rights due to i…
24-650 Robert Lee Webb v. Virginia Virginia 2024-12-16 Denied circumstantial-evidence fourteenth-amendment jury-instruction meaningful-defense sixth-amendment trial-court-error Whether the trial court's refusal to give a Virginia Model Jury Instruction on Circumstantial Evidence violated the appellant's Sixth and Fourteenth A…
24-572 Reginald Pittman, By and Through His Guardian and Next Friend, Robin M. Hamilton, v. Madison County, Illinois, et al. Seventh Circuit 2024-11-22 Denied due-process evidence-exclusion fair-trial fourteenth-amendment jury-instruction pre-trial-detainee Did the Circuit Court improperly impair the plaintiff's due process right to a fair trial by sustaining the jury's verdict and failing to order a new …
24-253 Avery Curry Archuleta, aka Avery Archuleta v. United States Ninth Circuit 2024-09-06 Denied Response Waived criminal-procedure jury-instruction legal-standard self-defense trial-court unanimity Whether trial courts must instruct juries that self-defense decisions require unanimity
24-5294 Tommy J. May v. Kansas Kansas 2024-08-09 Denied IFP criminal-procedure due-process first-degree-murder jury-instruction lesser-included-offense voluntary-manslaughter Whether a criminal defendant is entitled to a jury instruction on the lesser-included offense of attempted voluntary manslaughter when charged with fi…
24-5245 Otis Phillips v. Brian Emig, Warden, et al. Third Circuit 2024-08-07 Denied Response WaivedIFP coleman-v-thompson due-process ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-instruction martinez-v-ryan procedural-default Question not identified.
24-126 Benjamin Galecki, and Charles Burton Ritchie v. United States Ninth Circuit 2024-08-05 Denied chemical-structure continuing-criminal-enterprise controlled-substances criminal-law jury-instruction void-for-vagueness Whether the Controlled Substance Analogue Enforcement Act of 1986 is void for vagueness when applied to unscheduled substances with no objective scien…
24-5211 Jerod Askew v. United States Fourth Circuit 2024-08-01 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-procedure drug-trafficking due-process firearm-possession firearms jury-instruction jury-instructions statutory-interpretation Whether a jury instruction under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) requires reference to 'mere presence' and allows for the jury to draw inferences from improper leg…
24-5154 Joel Jacobo Sanchez v. Brandon Kelly Ninth Circuit 2024-07-26 Denied Response WaivedIFP aggravated-murder aiding-and-abetting burden-of-proof due-process ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel intent-standard jury-instruction natural-probable-consequences post-conviction-relief Was petitioner's post-conviction counsel ineffective for not arguing that petitioner's trial counsel failed object to a 'natural and probable conseque…
24-5106 Stoney Prior v. United States Ninth Circuit 2024-07-18 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review appellate-standard-of-review circuit-split criminal-defendant-rights criminal-defense jury-instruction jury-instructions reasonable-doubt recognized-defenses third-party-culpability Is a criminal defendant entitled to a jury instruction on any recognized defense supported by the evidence?
24-5027 Jovan Marquis Harris v. United States Eighth Circuit 2024-07-09 Denied Response WaivedIFP burrage-v-united-states causation-of-harm criminal-law criminal-procedure drug-distribution evidentiary-hearing federal-statute heroin-distribution jury-instruction jury-instructions overdose sentencing-enhancement Did the trial court err when it refused to instruct the jury that the heroin distributed by the defendant was the same heroin that caused the victims'…
23-7847 Matthew Gatrel v. United States Ninth Circuit 2024-07-02 Denied Response WaivedIFP computer-crime criminal-procedure improper-venue insufficient-evidence jury-instruction jury-instruction-error protected-computers sentencing-guidelines sentencing-guidelines-error sophisticated-means-enhancement venue-challenge Whether petitioner Matthew Gatrel's convictions should be reversed due to insufficient evidence
23-1321 Jeffrey Batio v. United States Seventh Circuit 2024-06-18 Denied criminal-intent fraudulent-intent good-faith good-faith-defense jury-instruction jury-instructions mail-fraud misrepresentation misrepresentations wire-fraud Does it improperly deprive a defendant of his defense of good faith when a jury is instructed that, if the jury finds any 'false and fraudulent repres…
23-7415 Carlos Gomez v. United States Second Circuit 2024-05-08 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP criminal-procedure due-process jury-instruction jury-instructions pinkerton-liability predicate-offense rosemond-v-united-states statutory-interpretation united-states-v-davis vicarious-liability Whether a jury instruction on 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) charge based on invalid or valid predicate prejudiced the Petitioner
23-7298 Jonathan Wayne Daniels v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2024-04-24 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-procedure criminal-trial due-process eyewitness-identification hobbs-act-robbery jury-instruction jury-instructions suggestive-identification suggestive-procedure third-circuit Whether petitioner's jury was adequately 'warn[ed] to take care in appraising identification evidence,' in accordance with due process, where his jury…
23A889 Walter Taylor, III v. Vermont Vermont 2024-04-05 Presumed Complete constitutional-rights criminal-defense fourteenth-amendment impartial-jury jury-instruction sixth-amendment Whether a criminal defendant is entitled to a jury instruction on a valid defense theory when there is sufficient evidence to support such an instruct…
23-7091 Brandon De McCall v. Texas Texas 2024-03-28 Denied IFP 8th-amendment capital-punishment culpability due-process eighth-amendment jury-instruction jury-instructions mitigating-evidence moral-blameworthiness Whether the 'moral blameworthiness' jury instruction prevented the consideration of constitutionally relevant mitigating evidence
23-7075 Breon D. Hicks v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2024-03-26 Denied Response WaivedIFP controlled-substance controlled-substances criminal-procedure criminal-statute due-process firearm-possession firearms jury-instruction jury-instructions section-924(c) section-924c unlawful-user Whether the district court erroneously instructed the jury concerning the Section 924(c) charges?
23-1019 Dennis McLain v. Denis R. McDonough, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eleventh Circuit 2024-03-18 Denied Response Waived causation-standard civil-rights discrimination due-process employment employment-discrimination federal-employee federal-employment jury-instruction retaliation title-vii whistleblowing Whether the jury should be instructed on the causation standard delineated in Babb v. Wilkie for federal employee Title VII claims
23-928 Yun Zheng, aka Wendy Zheng, and Yan Qiu Wu, aka Jason Wu v. United States Sixth Circuit 2024-02-27 Denied circuit-split harboring-aliens harmless-error immigration-law jury-instruction jury-instructions mens-rea neder-v-united-states Whether a jury instruction under 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(ii) requires the Government to prove that a defendant intended to help that alien evade dete…
23-6716 Tommy Lee Walker v. United States Ninth Circuit 2024-02-09 Denied Response WaivedIFP 2nd-amendment criminal-procedure due-process firearm-interstate-commerce interstate-commerce jury-instruction jury-instructions sixth-amendment speedy-trial-act standing Where the firearm at issue was manufactured in California and found in a home in California, did the district court err by refusing to give a requeste…
23-6681 Danny Lowe v. United States Ninth Circuit 2024-02-06 Denied Response WaivedIFP appeal criminal-intent due-process harmless-error jury-instruction jury-instructions mens-rea ninth-circuit sex-trafficking Is the jury instruction that misstates the mens rea of the offense harmless where the sole issue at trial is the defendant's criminal intent?
23-6673 Lillian Akwuba v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2024-02-06 Denied Response WaivedIFP controlled-substance criminal-procedure harmless-error intent-element jury-instruction jury-instructions medical-care mens-rea standard-of-care Whether the stringent harmless error language from Neder applies to Ruan-based jury instruction error?
23-6650 Pablo Guzman v. Ricky D. Dixon, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections, et al. Eleventh Circuit 2024-02-01 Denied IFP appellate-review constitutional-prejudice federal-habeas-corpus habeas-corpus jury-instruction lockhart-precedent lockhart-v-fretwell prejudice state-court-decision supreme-court-precedent Does Lockhart v. Fretwell prevent federal habeas corpus relief despite prejudice when Supreme Court precedent at trial was not clearly inconsistent wi…
23-6297 Kevin Hewlett v. United States Fourth Circuit 2023-12-18 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-2251 cellphone-evidence child-pornography commerce-clause criminal-conduct criminal-law criminal-procedure interstate-commerce jury-instruction mens-rea Whether the use of a cellphone in criminal conduct is a sufficient nexus to interstate commerce
23-6116 Cynthia Clemons v. United States Sixth Circuit 2023-11-28 Denied Response WaivedIFP controlled-substances criminal-procedure jury-instruction jury-instructions mens-rea plain-error ruan-v-united-states sixth-circuit supreme-court-precedent Whether the Sixth Circuit's ruling on the plain error standard is contrary to Supreme Court precedents, including Ruan and Henderson
23-5975 Caesar Mark Capistrano v. United States Fifth Circuit 2023-11-08 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP circuit-court civil-rights due-process judicial-interpretation jury-instruction mens-rea prosecutorial-discretion reversal statutory-construction supreme-court-precedent Are inferior courts allowed unrestricted freedom to interpret the Supreme Court's holding in Ruan v United States?
23-5645 Robert Eugene Stallings v. United States Fifth Circuit 2023-09-26 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-challenge counterman-precedent criminal-intent criminal-procedure due-process first-amendment harmless-error jury-instruction jury-instructions procedural-error statutory-interpretation sufficiency-of-evidence Whether 18 U.S.C. §1038(a) requires proof of intent to make a reasonably believable threat
23-266 Javaar Yavonnie Kalem Watkins v. United States Eighth Circuit 2023-09-20 Denied Response Waived constitutional-error conviction-reversal criminal-procedure due-process jury-instruction jury-instructions reasonable-doubt structural-error Was the reasonable doubt instruction constitutionally deficient thereby requiring reversal of Watkins' conviction?
23-5390 Neeraj Chopra v. United States Eighth Circuit 2023-08-18 Denied Response WaivedIFP constructive-amendment criminal-procedure due-process essential-elements indictment indictment-modification jury-instruction jury-instructions sexual-assault sexual-contact statutory-interpretation Whether a jury instruction constructively amends an indictment by modifying the essential elements of the offense charged
23-130 Saad Sakkal v. United States Sixth Circuit 2023-08-10 Denied Relisted (2) agency-regulation authorization controlled-substances-act criminal-conviction drug-dealer drug-dealing jury-instruction physician physician-prescription statutory-interpretation statutory-requirement Whether a jury instruction under the Controlled Substances Act may replace the statutory requirement that a physician be convicted as a drug dealer on…
22-7842 Dashawn Lewis v. United States Ninth Circuit 2023-06-22 Denied Response WaivedIFP burden-of-proof criminal-procedure directed-verdict due-process judicial-error jury-instruction jury-instructions ninth-circuit reasonable-doubt Whether the last sentence of the Ninth Circuit's pattern jury instruction on reasonable doubt is an incorrect statement of the law and akin to a direc…
22-1175 Xiulu Ruan and John Patrick Couch v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2023-06-05 Denied Amici (3) agency-rulemaking controlled-substances-act criminal-conviction federal-agency felony-offense jury-instruction jury-instructions medical-practice prescription-authority statutory-interpretation Whether 21 C.F.R. § 13806.04(a) may replace the 'except as authorized' requirement in a Controlled Substances Act jury instruction, thereby permitting…
22-7536 Mark D. Sievers v. Florida Florida 2023-05-12 Denied IFP closing-argument due-process fair-trial jury-instruction plea-agreement polygraph prosecutorial-misconduct witness-credibility Whether a state judge violates a defendant's due process right to a fair trial by giving an impromptu jury instruction regarding the credibility of th…
22-7435 Alex Smith v. United States Fourth Circuit 2023-05-01 Denied Response WaivedIFP circuit-split criminal-procedure due-process fifth-amendment jury-instruction jury-instructions reasonable-doubt Does the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment require a trial court to instruct, or refuse to instruct, the Jury on the fundamental meaning of 'B…
22-7346 John G. Calhoun v. Florida Florida 2023-04-21 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-procedure due-process estelle-v-mcguire habeas-corpus jury-instruction jury-instructions legal-precedent lisenba-v-california manslaughter trial-fairness Whether the inaccurate jury instruction on Manslaughter by Act so infused the trial with unfairness as to deny the Petitioner's right to Due Process o…
22-7333 David Jah, Sr. v. United States Ninth Circuit 2023-04-20 Denied Response WaivedIFP civil-rights commerce-clause criminal-procedure due-process interstate-commerce jury-instruction jury-instructions pro-se-representation sixth-amendment speedy-trial speedy-trial-act government-fabricated-evidence
22-992 Clay Melton Denton v. United States Fifth Circuit 2023-04-13 Denied adverse-inference criminal-procedure due-process evidence-spoliation exculpatory-evidence government-failure jury-instruction spoliation When is a defendant entitled to a spoliation instruction for lost potentially exculpatory evidence?
22-7137 Eric Deangelo Griggs v. United States Eighth Circuit 2023-03-29 Denied Response WaivedIFP burrage-v-united-states criminal-conviction cross-examination drug-distribution due-process heroin-distribution jury-instruction perjured-testimony strict-liability Whether a person can be convicted for distribution of heroin causing death using a jury instruction that makes the offense a strict liability crime
22-6968 Thomas Marmolejos v. United States Second Circuit 2023-03-08 Denied Response WaivedIFP crime-of-violence crimes-of-violence criminal-procedure due-process jury-instruction jury-instructions legal-error predicate-offense section-924(c) section-924(j) sentencing Can a section 924(c) and 924(j) charge that alleges multiple predicates stand when one or more of the predicates no longer qualifies as a crime of vio…
22-6835 Deon'te Reed v. United States Ninth Circuit 2023-02-22 Denied Response WaivedIFP 924c-conviction brecht-standard conspiracy-liability criminal-procedure drug-trafficking due-process harmless-error jury-instruction jury-instructions robbery-conspiracy stromberg-error Whether the Ninth Circuit erred in disregarding the prejudice resulting from Stromberg error and instead applying a per se harmless error test based o…
22-6614 Omar Kashaka Taylor v. United States Eighth Circuit 2023-01-24 Denied Response WaivedIFP ambiguous-term criminal-procedure criminal-statute due-process jury-instruction legal-principles statutory-interpretation Whether a jury instruction effectively directing a Whether an overly broad interpretation of an ambiguous term in a criminal statute carrying severe penalties complies with established principles of st…
22-6606 Henry Zabala-Zorilla v. Joseph Terra, Superintendent, State Correctional Institution at Phoenix, et al. Third Circuit 2023-01-23 Denied Response WaivedIFP allen-charge civil-rights criminal-procedure due-process equal-protection fourteenth-amendment ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-instruction reversible-error supplemental-instruction Does the Fourteenth Amendment equal protection laws require a state judge be found to commit reversible error to give a supplemental charge or an 'All…
22-6467 Louis Antonio Zayas v. United States Third Circuit 2023-01-05 Denied Response WaivedIFP certiorari controlled-substances criminal-procedure criminal-trial directed-verdict due-process evidence-disclosure harmless-error jury-instruction jury-instructions prosecutorial-conduct Whether the erroneous jury instruction on knowledge requirement constituted harmless error
22-6414 Keith Antonio Barnett v. United States Fourth Circuit 2022-12-29 Denied Response WaivedIFP confrontation-clause constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process hearsay hearsay-testimony jury-instruction theory-of-defense Whether the Confrontation Clause was violated when prosecutors relied, exclusively, on hearsay testimony to convict the petitioner?
22-587 Maurice Andrews v. District Attorney of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, et al. Third Circuit 2022-12-27 Denied due-process habeas habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-instruction jury-instructions prejudice-standard sixth-amendment structural-error trial-counsel Whether a habeas petitioner who receives a jury instruction that does not contain any of the essential elements of the offense must show prejudice
22-563 Randall Greer, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Christopher Greer, Deceased v. James Haman, et al. Eleventh Circuit 2022-12-20 Denied Response Waived deadly-force fourth-amendment graham-v-connor jury-instruction law-enforcement probable-cause self-defense tennessee-v-garner use-of-force Whether a jury should be instructed on the core principle that a law enforcement officer's use of deadly force in self-defense is not constitutionally…
22-6192 Dennis Dean Neff v. United States Tenth Circuit 2022-12-01 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review different-outcome judicial-discretion jury-instruction jury-instruction-error plain-error prejudice reasonable-probability trial trial-procedure unpreserved-claims Whether an appellant must show a 'reasonable probability' of a different outcome at trial to demonstrate prejudice from unpreserved claims of jury ins…
22-5863 Arlandis Shy v. United States Sixth Circuit 2022-10-18 Denied Response WaivedIFP 4th-amendment 6th-amendment apprendi-v-new-jersey due-process fair-trial fourth-amendment jury-instruction probable-cause search-warrant sixth-amendment unreasonable-search Whether the district court clearly erred by failing to properly instruct the jury, in violation of Apprendi v. New Jersey, and by admitting Defendant …
22-5838 Yasser Ashburn v. United States Second Circuit 2022-10-14 Denied Response WaivedIFP circuit-conflict criminal-enterprise firearm-possession gang-related-purpose jury-instruction predicate-acts racketeering rico rico-act Whether requisite proof to establish a RICO offense or RICO conspiracy requires a 'gang related purpose' or 'gaining entrance to, or maintaining or in…
22-348 Floyd Tayler v. Washington Washington 2022-10-13 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2) aggravating-factors criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing domestic-violence jury-instruction jury-instructions pattern-aggravator reasonable-doubt statutory-interpretation unanimity Must the jury be unanimously instructed to find each underlying domestic violence incident beyond a reasonable doubt?
22-5727 Antonio Garrett v. Ricky D. Dixon, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections, et al. Eleventh Circuit 2022-09-30 Denied IFP certificate-of-appealability constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process eleventh-circuit habeas habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-instruction section-2254 Whether the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals erred in denying Garrett a certificate of appealability on his 28 U.S.C. Section 2254 habeas claim of in…
22-5621 Cody Ray Leveke, aka Cody Meyer, aka Cody Ray Meyers v. United States Eighth Circuit 2022-09-20 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-law criminal-communication criminal-law first-amendment free-speech jury-instruction statutory-interpretation subjective-intent true-threat Whether a true threat requires the specific intent to threaten violence
22-146 Tracy Smith v. Georgia Georgia 2022-08-16 Denied Response Waived constitutional-law constitutional-rights criminal-procedure ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-instruction jury-instructions non-unanimous-verdict sixth-amendment trial-counsel Whether it is a violation of the Sixth Amendment for trial counsel to fail to object to a jury instruction that sanctioned a non-unanimous verdict
22-5363 Rodney Flucas v. United States Ninth Circuit 2022-08-16 Denied Response WaivedIFP burden-of-proof criminal-intent criminal-procedure due-process federalism interstate-travel jury-instruction precedent sexual-conduct state-authority Was the Jury Erroneously Instructed That the Government Only had to Prove That Sexual Activity Was a 'Motivating Purpose' for Transportation of Person…
22-5346 Sylvia Hofstetter v. United States Sixth Circuit 2022-08-15 GVR IFP 21-usc-841 circuit-split drug-offense global-tech healthcare-provider jury-instruction ruan-v-united-states scienter-standard standard-of-review willful-blindness Whether the District Court erred by instructing the jury
22-84 Saad Sakkal v. United States Sixth Circuit 2022-07-28 GVR controlled-substances-act conviction-appeal criminal-law due-process jury-instruction physician-conviction ruan-standard ruan-v-united-states scienter statutory-interpretation Whether this Court should grant, vacate, and remand a judgment sustaining the conviction of a physician under 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1)
22-5206 Shain Duka v. United States Third Circuit 2022-07-27 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP 924(c) actual-innocence circuit-court-review concurrent-sentence-doctrine criminal-conviction criminal-procedure invalid-conviction judicial-procedure jury-instruction sentencing-error statutory-interpretation Whether the Third Circuit Erred in Utilizing the Concurrent Sentence Doctrine to Uphold a Concededly Invalid 924(c) Conviction
22-5075 Courtney Newman v. United States Sixth Circuit 2022-07-12 GVR IFP controlled-substances criminal-intent criminal-law health-care jury-instruction medical-practice prescription-drugs prescription-law ruan-v-united-states statutory-interpretation Whether an authorized physician or health care professional can be convicted under 21-U.S.C-§856(a)(1) if the sole allegation of unlawful activity is …
21-8098 Rocky Christian v. Florida Florida 2022-06-09 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP anders-review appellate-procedure appellate-review fourteenth-amendment jury-instruction plain-error self-defense self-defense-instruction sixth-amendment Did the Fifth District Court of Appeal for the State of Florida conduct an adequate review of the record pursuant to Anders v. California 386 U.S. 738…
21-7986 Stephen Gosch v. Florida Florida 2022-05-27 Denied IFP constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process evidence evidence-disclosure fourteenth-amendment jury-instruction jury-instructions prosecutorial-misconduct state-court Did the state court violate the petitioner's right to due process of law as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment?
21-7940 Jason P. Thomas v. Morris Houser, Superintendent, State Correctional Institution at Benner Township, et al. Third Circuit 2022-05-23 Denied IFP criminal-procedure double-jeopardy evidentiary-hearing fabricated-evidence ineffective-assistance jury-instruction jury-instructions prosecutorial-misconduct sentencing Whether the District Court erred in disposing of Petitioner's claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel surrounding the failure to litigate a v…
21-7509 Jean Carlo Ferreira v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2022-03-31 Denied Response WaivedIFP circuit-split civil-rights constitutional-vagueness criminal-procedure criminal-statute davis-precedent due-process jury-instruction procedural-default sentencing standing vagueness Whether the Court should address the Circuit Split regarding whether, and under what circumstances, a movant's procedural default can be excused becau…
21-7356 Stacey Tremaine Johnson v. United States Fourth Circuit 2022-03-14 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-procedure drug-trafficking due-process evidence firearm-possession guideline-calculation jury-instruction jury-instructions sentencing sentencing-reasonableness standard-of-proof uncharged-conduct Whether there was sufficient evidence for the jury to find the petitioner guilty of drug-trafficking,firearm-possession
21-7133 Francis P. Salemme v. United States First Circuit 2022-02-16 Denied Response WaivedIFP accessorial-liability accessory-after-the-fact aiding-and-abetting criminal-procedure due-process jury-instruction jury-instructions legal-precedent middleton-v-mcneil Whether the jury instruction regarding accessorial liability that fails to distinguish between aiding and abetting liability and accessory after the f…
21-7095 Paul Anthony Darrah v. United States Sixth Circuit 2022-02-10 Denied IFP enterprise enterprise-existence first-amendment fourth-amendment free-speech jury-instruction jury-instructions necessity-requirement rico-conspiracy title-iii-wiretap wiretap-authorization Should the jury have been allowed to convict on the hypothetical existence of a RICO enterprise?
21-1089 Jeff Garvin Smith, Cary Dale Vandiver, Patrick Michael McKeoun, David Randy Drozdowski, and Vincent John Witort v. United States Sixth Circuit 2022-02-07 Denied Criminal-Procedure Due-Process First-Amendment Free-Speech hypothetical-elements jury-instruction Jury-Instructions RICO-Conspiracy sixth-circuit-precedent Should the jury have been allowed to convict the defendants on the hypothetical existence of all of the elements of a RICO Conspiracy?
21-6999 Sharoc Richardson v. Sherman Campbell, Warden Sixth Circuit 2022-01-31 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-procedure defense-witnesses due-process ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-instruction jury-instructions prosecutorial-misconduct right-to-a-fair-trial trial-court-error witness-cross-examination Did the trial court err in failing to instruct the jury on involuntary manslaughter?
21-7014 Vicente Lopez-Sanchez v. United States Fifth Circuit 2022-01-31 Denied Response WaivedIFP assault criminal-intent criminal-procedure due-process jury-instruction jury-instructions law-enforcement mens-rea Whether the district court erred by denying the defense's jury instruction
21-6993 Damon Willis v. United States Eighth Circuit 2022-01-27 Denied Response WaivedIFP 2nd-amendment criminal-law due-process fifth-amendment firearm-possession firearms jury-instruction jury-instructions prohibited-status rehaif-v-united-states sixth-amendment sovereign-citizen Does Rehaif v. United States preclude a jury instruction that the federal government must prove a defendant knew his prohibited status made it illegal…
21-1001 Hakim Bey v. John Rivello, Superintendent, State Correctional Institution at Huntingdon, et al. Third Circuit 2022-01-14 Denied Response Waived burden-of-proof constitutional-challenge constitutional-law criminal-law criminal-procedure due-process jury-instruction jury-instructions reasonable-doubt Whether a jury instruction is unconstitutional if there is a reasonable likelihood that the jury understood it to allow conviction without proof beyon…
21-6844 Pedro Rafael Caraballo-Martinez v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2022-01-13 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-procedure due-process harmless-error jury-instruction multiple-theory-error predicate-offense statutory-interpretation unconstitutional-vagueness united-states-v-davis vagueness Whether a conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A) may be sustained based on the reviewing court's finding that the jury relied equally on a valid pr…
21-6742 Raudel Salgado-Rodriguez v. United States Fifth Circuit 2021-12-29 Denied Response WaivedIFP credibility-of-evidence criminal-procedure due-process evidence-credibility fair-trial judicial-discretion jury-instruction jury-instructions theory-of-defense Whether it violates an accused's right to a fundamentally fair trial to have a judge refuse a theory-of-defense jury instruction because the judge per…
21-6681 Eric Michael Crapser v. Ricky D. Dixon, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections Eleventh Circuit 2021-12-20 Denied IFP circuit-split criminal-procedure ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-instruction jury-instructions lesser-included-offense sixth-amendment strickland-standard strickland-v-washington Whether the Court should resolve the clear circuit split on whether Strickland-v-Washington prohibits a criminal defendant from obtaining relief due t…
21-6664 Robert Breest v. John M. Formella, Attorney General of New Hampshire First Circuit 2021-12-17 Dismissed Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP appellate-review constitutional-error due-process habeas-corpus habeas-relief ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-instruction jury-instructions reasonable-doubt sullivan-v-louisiana Did the First Circuit err in denying Robert Breest relief from judgment pertaining to the First Circuit's 1981 holding in Breest v. Perrin, 655 F.2d 1…
21-6452 Donnell Murray v. United States Second Circuit 2021-12-01 Denied Response WaivedIFP aiding-and-abetting conviction count-one criminal-procedure davis insufficient-evidence jury-instruction predicate-acts racketeering trial-errors Whether Murray's conviction on Count One should be reversed due to insufficient evidence
21-6272 Igor Perlov v. California California 2021-11-15 Denied Response WaivedIFP credibility credibility-determination criminal-charge due-process harmless-error jury-instruction reasonable-doubt sixth-amendment Is it a violation of the Due Process Clause and defendant's Sixth Amendment right to require the State to prove a criminal charge beyond a reasonable …
21-706 Joel Iverson Gilbert v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2021-11-15 Denied bribery bribery-statute federal-bribery-laws first-amendment issue-advocacy jury-instruction jury-instructions official-action prosecutorial-standard Whether the government must prove explicit link between issue-advocacy payments and official action in bribery prosecution
21-6115 Jaime Mayorga v. United States Ninth Circuit 2021-10-28 Denied Response WaivedIFP chapman-v-california criminal-conviction criminal-procedure harmless-error intent-to-defraud jury-instruction jury-instructions ninth-circuit statutory-interpretation united-states-v-neder Did the Ninth Circuit's disposition of Petitioner's instructional error claim, which did not examine evidence Petitioner proffered regarding his lack …
21-5989 Jeffrey G. Boyd v. United States Third Circuit 2021-10-18 Denied Response WaivedIFP burden-of-proof circuit-split contested-element criminal-procedure due-process harmless-error jury-instruction jury-instructions knowledge-element standard-of-review Whether the harmless error standard should apply to a failure to instruct the jury on a contested element of the offense
21-5843 Brandon Lamar Pruitt v. United States Ninth Circuit 2021-10-01 Denied Response WaivedIFP circuit-split constitutional-rights criminal-law due-process fifth-amendment jury-instruction mens-rea sex-trafficking statutory-interpretation Whether the Ninth Circuit erred in affirming a jury instruction that allowed conviction for sex trafficking under 18 U.S.C. § 1591(a)(1) without proof…
21-431 Grant Lloyd Greenwood v. Minnesota Minnesota 2021-09-21 Denied Response Waived due-process effective-assistance-of-counsel fourteenth-amendment jury-instruction jury-instructions prosecutorial-misconduct sixth-amendment Whether a defendant's Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of appellate counsel, and Fourteenth Amendment right to due process, are violated
21-5566 Razhden Shulaya v. United States Second Circuit 2021-09-02 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-rights counsel-interference due-process judicial-bias jury-instruction jury-instructions right-to-counsel structural-error trial-procedure Whether the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York provided a constitutionally flawed trial and committed structural error…
21-5523 Amos Kiprop Koech v. United States Eighth Circuit 2021-08-30 Denied Response WaivedIFP burden-of-proof cell-phone-evidence criminal-law criminal-statute federal-statutes interstate-commerce jurisdictional-element jury-instruction reasonable-doubt Does the jurisdictional element 'in or affecting interstate commerce' in federal criminal statutes require an actual effect on interstate commerce and…
21-243 James Warner v. United States Sixth Circuit 2021-08-18 Denied bribery-statute constructive-amendment criminal-procedure indictment indictment-modification jury-instruction jury-instructions plain-error substantial-rights Whether the constructive amendment of an indictment by an erroneous jury instruction, stating that conspiracy counts alleged agreements to violate a d…
21-5342 Jamerl M. Wortham v. United States Eighth Circuit 2021-08-11 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review essential-element jury-instruction jury-instructions sixth-amendment unanimous-verdict waiver Whether a defendant waives appellate review of his Sixth Amendment right to a unanimous verdict when the government and defense counsel jointly submit…
21-183 Gas Pipe, Inc., et al. v. United States Fifth Circuit 2021-08-09 Denied appellate-review conspiracy conspiracy-to-defraud constitutional-error criminal-law defraud-clause government-function harmless-error jury-instruction jury-instructions Whether 18 U.S.C. § 371's defraud clause reaches any conspiracy whose object is to interfere with any lawful government function, even if not targeted…
21-5318 Beatrice Munyenyezi v. United States First Circuit 2021-08-06 Denied Response WaivedIFP 28-usc-2255 brecht-standard chapman-standard federal-procedure habeas-corpus harmless-error jury-instruction post-conviction-relief supreme-court-review Which harmless error standard applies to a habeas corpus challenge under 28 U.S.C. §2255?
21-160 Justin M. Corliss v. Tom McGinley, Superintendent, State Correctional Institution at Coal Township, et al. Third Circuit 2021-08-04 Denied certificate-of-appealability certificates-of-appealability ex-post-facto false-testimony habeas jury-instruction prosecutorial-misconduct state-court time-barred-charges Whether the applications for certificates of appealability were improperly denied
21-5235 Vincent Holton v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2021-07-28 Denied Response WaivedIFP conspiracy conviction criminal-procedure due-process entrapment jury-instruction jury-instructions sentencing Whether the District Court Wrongly Denied Petitioner's Request for a Jury Instruction on Entrapment?
21-5202 Esteban Figueroa-Larrea v. United States Ninth Circuit 2021-07-23 Denied Response WaivedIFP contested-element criminal-procedure district-court jury-charge jury-instruction jury-instructions legal-scope plain-error standard-of-review trial-court-error trial-procedure Whether the district court plainly erred by misadvising the jury about the legal scope of the sole contested element at trial
21-5182 Pedro Ray Tejeda v. Minnesota Minnesota 2021-07-22 Denied Response WaivedIFP ammunition constitutional-rights criminal-possession criminal-procedure due-process firearm jury-instruction possession trial-procedure unanimous-verdict Must my conviction for Ineligible Person in Poss. of Ammo or firearm be reversed, remanded for new trial and or vacated based on Unanimous Verdict iss…
21-5185 Lexton Pellew v. United States District of Columbia 2021-07-22 Denied Response WaivedIFP appeal conviction-count criminal-procedure double-jeopardy due-process jury-instruction jury-instructions legal-review sentence-calculation sentencing sentencing-error Whether the convictions on counts 13-14 should be vacated due to erroneous jury instructions, given that the 10-year consecutive sentence was derived …
21-5141 Terrance Tyrell Edwards v. United States Ninth Circuit 2021-07-20 Denied Response WaivedIFP commercial-sex-trafficking conclusive-presumption criminal-procedure due-process interstate-commerce jury-instruction jury-instructions plain-error Is evidence that establishes only the use of cellular-telephones, internet, hotels sufficient to find the interstate-commerce element for commercial-s…
21-5039 Gavin Wayne Wright v. United States Tenth Circuit 2021-07-08 Denied IFP co-conspirator-statements co-defendant criminal-conspiracy due-process entrapment false-statements federal-rules-of-evidence government-agent jury-instruction materiality testimony Was the quantum and character of this evidence in the record sufficient to entitle him to a jury instruction on entrapment?
21-5002 Jalil Lemason Robinson v. United States Tenth Circuit 2021-07-02 Denied Response WaivedIFP age-of-consent criminal-intent criminal-law due-process entrapment jury-instruction predisposition sex-trafficking undercover-operation undercover-operations Did the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals err in determining that Mr. Robinson was not entitled to a jury instruction regarding the affirmative defense o…
20-8440 Jerry Douglas, Jr. v. United States Fourth Circuit 2021-06-28 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-procedure federal-question felon-in-possession felon-possession jury-instruction justification-defense minor-child-safety minor-protection second-amendment Is a defendant entitled to a justification jury instruction on a charge of possession of ammunition in commerce by a felon when the defendant is actin…
20-1783 Jacob Christine v. Michael Clark, Superintendent, State Correctional Institution at Albion, et al. Third Circuit 2021-06-23 Denied and an ex-post-facto violation jury instruction errors ada-pleading-5th bagley-exception brady-violation certificate-of-appealability due-process jury-instruction pcra-hearing pinholster self-defense unavailable-declarant Whether the Third Circuit Court of Appeals erred in failing to issue a Certificate of Appealability or grant reargument in the instant matter
20-1765 Donald S. Harden v. United States Seventh Circuit 2021-06-22 Denied Response Waived but-for-causation circuit-split controlled-substances-act death-results ineffective-assistance-of-counsel ineffective-counsel jury-instruction jury-instructions sentencing For a death-results sentence under the Controlled Substances Act, must a jury be instructed as to but-for cause if the evidence of causation is confli…
20-8307 Lamar McKnight v. Josie Gastelo, Warden Ninth Circuit 2021-06-15 Denied Response WaivedIFP confrontation-clause cross-examination due-process evidence expert-testimony gang-enhancement gang-expert jury-instruction natural-probable-consequences right-to-confront testimonial-hearsay Should a COA have been granted to decide if the trial court's admission of the gang expert's testimonial hearsay deprived McKnight of his right to con…
20-8226 In Re Francis Boyd 2021-06-04 Denied IFP criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing due-process habeas-corpus judicial-error jury-instruction jury-instructions miscarriage-of-justice murder murder-degrees third-degree-murder trial-procedure Can a trial judge instruct a jury during a jury charge that they cannot find the petitioner guilty of a certain degree of murder after entertaining a …
20-8203 Dasheme Kareme Hosley v. Rick Hill, Warden Ninth Circuit 2021-06-02 Denied Response WaivedIFP closing-argument due-process harmless-error judicial-ratification jury-instruction jury-instructions legal-misstatement prosecutorial-misconduct trial-court trial-procedure Should courts presume that the jury followed the trial court's correct instruction at the end of trial even if the trial judge expressly ratified a mi…
20-8101 Joseph Weldon Smith v. Perry Russell, Warden, et al. Ninth Circuit 2021-05-21 Denied IFP brecht-standard brecht-v-abrahamson capital-sentencing harmless-error jury-instruction jury-instructions jury-trial sixth-amendment stromberg-error stromberg-v-california Whether a federal court may disregard the prejudice resulting from Stromberg error and instead ask only what a hypothetical jury instructed on a valid…
20-8018 Deshaun Tisdale v. United States Sixth Circuit 2021-05-13 Denied Response WaivedIFP assault assault-with-dangerous-weapon common-law-self-defense criminal-law firearms-offense jury-instruction michigan-common-law michigan-law racketeering racketeering-conspiracy self-defense use-of-firearm Whether the Petitioner should have been permitted a common law self-defense jury instruction in a racketeering conspiracy case involving convictions f…
20-7907 Julio Solano v. California California 2021-05-03 Denied IFP due-process heat-of-passion insufficient-evidence jury-instruction jury-instructions prosecutorial-misconduct provocation second-degree-murder voluntary-manslaughter Whether the California Courts' failure to adequately instruct the jury on provocation in the context of Second Degree Murder violated federal due proc…
20-7677 Juan Manuel Fuentes-Morales v. United States Fourth Circuit 2021-04-13 Denied Response WaivedIFP attorney-speech constitutional-interpretation criminal-procedure due-process fourth-circuit jury-instruction jury-instructions reasonable-doubt victor-v-nebraska Whether the Fourth Circuit's reasonable doubt charge conflicts with Victor v. Nebraska
20-1409 Graham B. Spanier v. Chad Libby, Director, Dauphin County Probation Services, et al. Third Circuit 2021-04-07 Denied Response Waived criminal-liability criminal-statute due-process ex-post-facto fourteenth-amendment jury-instruction retroactive-application retroactivity May a state prosecute a defendant for violating a statute enacted after the defendant's conduct, without violating the Ex Post Facto Clause, merely be…
20-7632 Shannon D. Hixon v. United States Sixth Circuit 2021-04-01 Denied Response WaivedIFP causation criminal-law criminal-statute death-results drug-overdose drug-trafficking due-process foreseeable-result jury-instruction jury-instructions sentencing Whether a defendant may be convicted under the 'death results' provision of 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(C) without instructing the jury that it must decide …
20-7460 Carlos Rodriguez Fernandez v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2021-03-16 Denied IFP child-pornography context-test due-process first-amendment four-corners-test jury-instruction lascivious-exhibition Whether courts must apply a 'limited context' test rather than an expansive 'context' test or a 'four corners' test in determining whether an image of…
20-7360 Emmanuel Feaster v. United States Second Circuit 2021-03-08 Denied Relisted (2)IFP criminal-law criminal-statute firearm-possession firearms jury-instruction jury-instructions plain-error rehaif-standard rehaif-v-united-states statutory-interpretation supreme-court-precedent Whether the district court committed plain error in failing to instruct the jury that the evidence must establish both that petitioner Emmanuel Feaste…
20-7248 Jonathan Lee Page v. Mark S. Inch, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections, et al. Eleventh Circuit 2021-02-25 Denied IFP constitutional-law court-limitation criminal-procedure independent-act ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-instruction jury-instructions legal-objection primary-offense primary-offenses trial-procedure Whether counsel was ineffective when he failed to timely object to the lower court expressly limiting the independent act jury instruction to the prim…
20-7183 Shameke Walker v. United States Second Circuit 2021-02-19 Denied Relisted (2)IFP 18-usc-924c armed-career-criminal-act crime-of-violence criminal-law criminal-procedure federal-criminal-procedure hobbs-act hobbs-act-robbery identification-evidence jury-instruction plain-error violent-crime Whether Hobbs Act robbery constitutes a crime of violence under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)
20-1131 James C. Dimora v. United States Sixth Circuit 2021-02-17 Denied Response Waived bribery conviction criminal-conviction due-process jury-instruction jury-instructions lawful-conduct legal-error official-act statutory-interpretation Whether a McDonnell error can invalidate convictions on additional counts that do not have an 'official act' element but depend on the jury's assessme…
20-7146 Frank Ray Gallardo v. United States Eighth Circuit 2021-02-12 Denied Response WaivedIFP circuit-conflict circuit-split criminal-law criminal-statute due-process federal-criminal-law jury-instruction jury-instructions mens-rea specific-intent statutory-interpretation Whether a defendant charged with an offense under 18 USC § 2244 is entitled to a specific intent instruction and there is a conflict among Circuits
20-6966 Charles Eloys Johnson, aka Adam White v. United States Fourth Circuit 2021-01-28 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-924c appellate-review conspiracy crime-of-violence criminal-procedure hobbs-act hobbs-act-robbery jury-instruction jury-instructions plain-error substantial-rights Whether an acknowledged instructional error requires reversal where a reviewing court cannot determine if the jury based its verdict on the legally er…
20-6770 Lelis Ezequiel Treminio-Tobar v. United States Fourth Circuit 2021-01-04 Denied Response WaivedIFP 5th-amendment affirmative-defense criminal-procedure due-process fifth-amendment jury-instruction jury-instructions trial-court Whether the Fifth Amendment Due Process right to present a defense requires the trial court to instruct the jury that it has a duty to acquit any defe…
20-6710 Marlon Iron Crow v. United States Eighth Circuit 2020-12-28 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-1 criminal-law criminal-statute jury-instruction jury-instructions malice-aforethought mens-rea second-degree-murder statutory-interpretation Whether the 'reckless' mens rea should be included in the jury instruction for 'malice aforethought' for second degree murder under 18 U.S.C. § 1
20-6660 Shusta Traverse Gumbs v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2020-12-18 Denied Response WaivedIFP circuit-split criminal-law criminal-procedure deadly-weapon intent jury-instruction jury-instructions lesser-included-offense united-states-v-feola Whether the district court erred in giving only the first sentence of Mr. Gumbs' request to charge on use of a deadly weapon in light of the Circuit s…
20-6662 Ian D. Goolsby v. United States Second Circuit 2020-12-18 Denied Relisted (2)IFP specifically allowing review beyond the trial rec circuit-conflict criminal-procedure due-process element-of-offense jury-instruction plain-error-review presentence-report rehaif-v-united-states scope-of-review supreme-court-decision Whether plainerror-review-for-failure-to-instruct-on-an-element-of-the-offense-based-upon-an-intervening-U.S.-Supreme-Court-decision-allows-a-federal-…
20-6526 Kendesia Juinize May v. United States Fourth Circuit 2020-12-07 Denied Response WaivedIFP buy-sell-defense buy-sell-transactions conspiracy conspiracy-law criminal-procedure judgment-of-acquittal jury-instruction jury-instructions plain-error rule-29 Whether the trial court committed plain error in refusing to grant a 'buy-sell' defense jury instruction
20-6540 Joshua N. Wright v. United States Fourth Circuit 2020-12-04 Denied Response WaivedIFP abduction acquitted-conduct constitutional-law crime-of-violence criminal-law due-process federal-courts jury-instruction jury-instructions sentencing sentencing-enhancement upward-variance Whether the district court erred in its 'crime of violence' instruction to the jury
20-6428 Ronald Herron v. United States Second Circuit 2020-11-24 Denied IFP 18-usc-924c advance-knowledge aiding-and-abetting criminal-conviction due-process firearm-conduct firearm-related-conduct jury-instruction residual-clause section-924c unconstitutional Did the second circuit err by affirming petitioner's 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) convictions
20-6367 Kissinger St. Fleur v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2020-11-18 Denied IFP appellate-review buyer-seller-transaction cocaine-distribution conspiracy criminal-conspiracy criminal-procedure drug-crimes due-process fair-trial judicial-discretion jury-instruction jury-instructions Did the district court and the Eleventh Circuit deny Mr. St. Fleur a fair trial when it failed to give buyer-seller instructions to the jury?
20-6191 Daniel Johnson v. United States Ninth Circuit 2020-11-02 Denied Response WaivedIFP aggravated-sexual-abuse criminal-procedure due-process evidence-standard harmless-error jury-instruction jury-instructions ninth-circuit sexual-abuse victim-age Was the error in the jury instruction harmless?
20-6171 Kenneth Emanuel Baptiste v. Craig Koenig, Warden Ninth Circuit 2020-10-29 Dismissed IFP capital-murder capitol-murder constitutional-error due-process fair-trial jury-instruction jury-instructions reconsideration severance-motion stolen-property trial-procedure Was instructing the Jury with CALJIC No. 2.15 in error
20-6097 Francisco J. Martinez v. Adolfo Gonzalez, Chief Probation Officer, San Diego, California Ninth Circuit 2020-10-23 Denied Response WaivedIFP commodities-fraud criminal-procedure due-process harmless-error jury-instruction jury-instructions scienter Should CERTIORARI be granted to review whether the failure to instruct a state jury on lack of scienter could be harmless-beyond a reasonable doubt in…
20-6003 Alvin Celius Andre v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2020-10-14 Denied Response WaivedIFP circuit-conflict criminal-procedure entrapment government-intervention jacobson-v-united-states jury-instruction predisposition ready-willingness Whether the Eleventh Circuit's Entrapment Jury Instruction is in Conflict With Jacobson v. United States, 503 U.S. 540 (1992) and the Majority of the …
20-5921 Joseph J. Craig v. Kansas Kansas 2020-10-05 Denied IFP constitutional-law criminal-defense criminal-procedure due-process fair-trial jury-instruction kansas-supreme-court voluntary-intoxication Did the Kansas Supreme Court deny the defendants rights to a fair trial under the Due Process Clause when it should have ruled the defendant was entit…
20-5854 Trumaine Muller v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2020-09-30 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-law criminal-procedure drug-offense drug-offenses intervening-act jury-instruction jury-instructions mens-rea plain-error proximate-cause Whether the trial court committed plain error in failing to instruct the jury that the government had to prove mens rea as to each drug offense and th…
20-5783 Chia Jean Lee v. United States Fifth Circuit 2020-09-24 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review chapman-v-california circuit-split constitutional-standard criminal-procedure deliberate-indifference harmless-error jury-instruction jury-instructions standard-of-review Whether the Fifth Circuit should apply the Chapman beyond a reasonable doubt standard rather than the substantial evidence standard to consider the ha…
20-5742 David Tachay Heard v. United States Eighth Circuit 2020-09-17 Denied Relisted (3)IFP appellate-review criminal-procedure cross-racial-identification due-process eyewitness-identification federal-standard jury-instruction jury-instructions plain-error standard-of-review Should federal district courts be required to give a cautionary jury instruction, upon a defendant's request, to guide the jury's evaluation of eyewit…
20-5558 Anthony Smith v. United States Second Circuit 2020-09-02 Denied Relisted (3)IFP criminal-law criminal-statute due-process firearm-possession firearms jury-instruction jury-instructions knowledge-element mens-rea plain-error prohibited-possession Whether the district court committed plain error in failing to instruct the jury that the evidence must establish both that appellant Anthony Smith kn…
20-221 Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas v. United States Second Circuit 2020-08-25 Denied Response Waived aircraft-transportation conscious-avoidance controlled-substances criminal-defendant criminal-intent deliberate-steps evidence jury-instruction knowledge sentencing-guidelines Can a jury be instructed on conscious-avoidance,criminal-defendant,knowledge,evidence,deliberate-steps
20-5403 Dimarzio Swade Sanchez v. United States Ninth Circuit 2020-08-19 Denied Response WaivedIFP aiding-and-abetting criminal-procedure due-process first-degree-murder jury-instruction jury-instructions mandatory-life-imprisonment sixth-amendment Whether Sanchez's conviction was in contravention of historical jurisprudence and the Sixth Amendment when the district court failed to instruct the j…
20-5299 Antonio Benson v. Tennessee Tennessee 2020-08-07 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process evidence jury-instruction jury-instructions self-defense Whether the ruling of the Tennessee Supreme Court violated Petitioner's due process protections
20-5078 Vagan Adzhemyan v. United States Ninth Circuit 2020-07-15 Denied Response WaivedIFP contested-element contested-elements due-process federal-kidnapping-statute harmless-error jury-instruction jury-instructions kidnapping-statute sixth-amendment structural-error Whether the Sixth Amendment allows a district court to refuse to instruct jurors on the only contested element of the federal kidnapping statute
20-5082 Robert Deane Schwartz v. Raymond Madden, Warden Ninth Circuit 2020-07-15 Denied IFP affirmative-defense certificate-of-appealability due-process fourteenth-amendment habeas habeas-corpus jury-instruction jury-instructions Did the Ninth Circuit err for failing to grant a certificate of appealability pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253(c)(2) on petitioner's claim that the state …
20-5057 Ledinson Chavez v. United States Sixth Circuit 2020-07-14 Denied Response WaivedIFP advance-knowledge aggravated-identity-theft aiding-and-abetting criminal-law identity-theft jury-instruction knowledge-requirement rosemond-v-united-states sixth-circuit supreme-court-mandate Did the trial court's jury instruction on aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft comply with this Court's mandate in Rosemond v. United States?
20-1 Nicholas E. Davis v. United States Armed Forces 2020-07-09 Denied Response Waived appellate-review court-martial criminal-procedure jury-instruction jury-instructions plain-error supreme-court-precedent waiver Whether the failure to object to a pattern jury instruction erroneously describing the elements of the offense constitutes affirmative waiver such tha…
19-8882 George Donald Hatt, Jr. v. Washington Washington 2020-07-02 Denied IFP burden-of-proof due-process first-aggressor jury-instruction self-defense sua-sponte substantial-rights sufficiency-of-evidence Did the First Aggcessor Jury Instruction, issued sua sponte, violate due process by celieving the state of its burden to disprove self-defense?
19-8727 Felton Ladell Humphries, Jr. v. S. Sherman, Warden Ninth Circuit 2020-06-17 Denied Response WaivedIFP certificate-of-appealability constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process first-degree-murder jury-instruction self-defense voluntary-manslaughter Whether the petitioner was entitled to a jury instruction on his theory of defense and the requested jury instruction on voluntary manslaughter and im…
19-8731 Edson Gelin v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2020-06-17 Denied Response WaivedIFP buyer-seller criminal-law criminal-procedure evidence-law fair-trial judicial-discretion jury-instruction jury-instructions theory-of-defense Whether the defense is entitled to a buyer-seller jury instruction when the instruction is part of the theory of defense and otherwise necessary for a…
19-8612 Edward Ronald Stamper v. United States Ninth Circuit 2020-06-05 Denied Response WaivedIFP consent criminal-intent criminal-law due-process indian-reservation ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-instruction jury-instructions mens-rea sexual-abuse sexual-assault Was Stamper's conviction in contravention of multiple decisions of this Court, including Rehaif v. United States, 139 S. Ct. 2191 (2019) and United St…
19-8376 Carlos M. Guerrero-Castro v. United States First Circuit 2020-04-28 Denied Response WaivedIFP conspiracy criminal-enterprise criminal-procedure enterprise essential-element judicial-procedure jury-instruction jury-instructions plain-error RICO rico-conspiracy Whether a district court commits plain error by refusing to properly instruct the jury that the existence of an actual enterprise is always an essenti…
19-8336 Igancio Reyes-Yanez v. United States Ninth Circuit 2020-04-22 Denied Response WaivedIFP burden-of-proof constitutional-rights criminal-procedure defendant-testimony due-process jury-instruction jury-instructions presumption-of-innocence Should the government be allowed to tell a jury that there is no presumption of innocence for a defendant's testimony?
19-8294 Roscoe Johnson v. Mississippi Mississippi 2020-04-18 Denied Response WaivedIFP abuse-allegations criminal-defense criminal-procedure due-process evidence ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-instruction jury-instructions motion-in-limine position-of-trust Whether Dohnson's Trial Counsel provided Constitutionally ineffective assistance of Trial Counsel
19-8253 Rudolph Churchill v. Pennsylvania Pennsylvania 2020-04-14 Denied IFP constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process evidence hypothetical-question ineffective-assistance jury-instruction jury-instructions prosecutorial-misconduct sixth-amendment trial-counsel Sixth Amendment-Ineffective-Assistance-of-Counsel
19-8237 Fernando Romero-Salgado v. United States Ninth Circuit 2020-04-10 Denied Response WaivedIFP circuit-split criminal-procedure fifth-amendment jury-instruction jury-instructions mens-rea plain-error plain-error-review sixth-amendment substantial-rights Does Rehaif error per se affect a defendant's substantial rights under the third prong of plain-error review?
19-8119 Walter E. Williams v. Mark S. Inch, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections Florida 2020-03-27 Denied Relisted (2)IFP constitutional-challenge constitutional-law criminal-conviction criminal-procedure double-jeopardy due-process essential-element felony-murder judicial-review jury-instruction standing Whether the conviction for a crime without proof of an essential element of that crime violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
19-7957 Damar D. Ruffin v. United States Sixth Circuit 2020-03-12 Denied Response WaivedIFP appeals appellate-review controlled-substance controlled-substances criminal-procedure double-jeopardy due-process evidence evidence-law jury-instruction jury-trial reversible-error sentencing standard-of-review Whether the court of appeals committed reversible error in determining the amount of a controlled substance
19-7795 Robert Alan Foster v. Willis Chapman, Warden Sixth Circuit 2020-02-27 Denied Response WaivedIFP civil-rights discovery-violation due-process equal-protection fair-trial first-amendment free-speech ineffective-assistance jury-instruction prosecutorial-misconduct racial-discrimination school-desegregation sixth-amendment standing voting-rights Whether the lower court erred in dismissing petitioner's claims for violation of the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause
19-7750 Russell Patrick Brown v. Kenneth D. Hutchison, Warden Sixth Circuit 2020-02-24 Denied Response WaivedIFP 1st-degree-murder constitutional-due-process constitutional-violation conviction criminal-conviction due-process insufficient-evidence jackson-v-virginia jury-instruction premeditation self-defense supreme-court-precedent Whether it's a U.S. constituion Due Process violation proscribed by this court in Jackson v. Virginia, for Mr. Brown's 1st degree murder conviction to…
19-7633 Anthony Allen v. Illinois Illinois 2020-02-12 Denied Response WaivedIFP burden-of-proof criminal-law criminal-procedure due-process fourteenth-amendment intent-element jury-instruction jury-instructions presumption-of-intent reasonable-doubt Whether the jury instruction that 'the law presumes that a person intends the ordinary consequences of his voluntary acts' violates the Fourteenth Ame…
19-999 Lewis Alan Dugan v. Wyoming Wyoming 2020-02-10 Denied Response Waived criminal-procedure criminal-prosecution due-process first-amendment free-speech jury-instruction obscenity overbreadth speech-conduct stalking-statute Whether a trial court should instruct a jury on the legal definition of 'obscene' in a prosecution for writing obscene letters
19-7545 Willie Palmer v. Mark S. Inch, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections, et al. Eleventh Circuit 2020-02-04 Denied Response WaivedIFP 6th-amendment abandonment effective-assistance-of-counsel evidentiary-hearing ineffective-assistance jury-instruction jury-instructions postconviction-relief rule-3.850 sixth-amendment unreasonable-determination-of-facts Whether the courts below decided an important federal question in a way that conflicts with the relevant decisions of this Honorable Court
19-960 Grand Trunk Western Railroad Company v. Steven R. Lilly Michigan 2020-01-31 Denied Amici (1)Response Waived civil-procedure employment-law federal-employers-liability-act fela jury-instruction jury-instructions personal-injury preexisting-condition railroad-employee workplace-liability Whether a jury must be instructed about an employee's preexisting physical condition in a FELA personal injury action against an employer
19-906 Philip N. Antico v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2020-01-22 Denied allen-charge circuit-court-conflict constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process fundamental-due-process fundamental-rights jury-instruction jury-instructions retrial-cost retrial-costs Is a criminal defendant's fundamental constitutional rights violated by an Allen charge that instructs a deadlocked jury to consider the expense of a …
19-7124 Derwin Lee Butler v. California California 2019-12-31 Denied IFP constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process jury-instruction jury-instructions post-trial-hearing right-to-call-witnesses stipulation trial-court-error trial-error trial-procedure witness-testimony Does a criminal defendant become deprived of his constitutional rights when the trial court fails to read an agreed upon stipulation and instruction t…
19-6972 Tarsis Guillermo Sanchez-Mora v. United States First Circuit 2019-12-19 Denied Response WaivedIFP circuit-court-split circuit-split criminal-procedure federal-procedure jury-instruction jury-instructions miscarriage-of-justice plain-error rico-conspiracy statutory-interpretation Should this Court grant certiorari to correct a miscarriage of justice and provide needed clarification of the RICO law?
19-6960 Ulriste Tulin v. United States Fourth Circuit 2019-12-16 Denied Response WaivedIFP actual-innocence constitutional-rights due-process equal-protection fifth-amendment fourteenth-amendment grand-jury indictment jury-instruction Does an inaccurate Jury Instruction on the content of the indictment violate due process of law?
19-6942 Savon Germain Carter v. United States Tenth Circuit 2019-12-13 Denied IFP buyer-seller-rule circuit-split criminal-law criminal-procedure drug-conspiracy due-process end-user jury-instruction jury-instructions methamphetamine-distribution Whether the buyer-seller rule applies to all participants in a drug conspiracy, not just end-users
19-6848 Robert Matthew Wittal v. Montana Montana 2019-12-04 Denied Response WaivedIFP co-defendant-testimony credibility criminal-procedure criminal-trial ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-instruction jury-instructions legal-objection sixth-amendment witness-credibility Whether petitioner received ineffective assistance of counsel when his counsel objected to a jury instruction on the untrustworthiness of co-defendant…
19-6617 Melissa Morton v. United States Ninth Circuit 2019-11-14 Denied Response WaivedIFP appeal appellate-review circuit-split criminal-procedure-waiver due-process inter-circuit-conflict intra-circuit-conflict jury-instruction jury-instructions legal-procedure right-relinquishment right-to-appeal waiver Whether a defendant waives his right to challenge a jury instruction on appeal if he proposed the instruction below, even if the record contains no ev…
19-495 Martin Shkreli v. United States Second Circuit 2019-10-16 Denied Response Waived bank-fraud forfeiture-calculation good-faith good-faith-defense jury-instruction jury-instructions loss-causation mail-fraud materiality mens-rea no-ultimate-harm prosecutorial-standard securities-fraud statutory-interpretation wire-fraud Whether a 'no ultimate harm' instruction in a securities fraud prosecution causes prejudicial jury confusion by effectively holding the accused to a h…
19-6236 Christina Marie Eichler v. United States Tenth Circuit 2019-10-10 Denied IFP buyer-seller-rule circuit-split conspiracy conspiracy-to-distribute criminal-law distribution drug-sales due-process end-users evidence-admissibility jury-instruction Is evidence of drug sales admissible to prove a conspiracy to distribute when the person charged with the conspiracy only sold drugs to end users and …
19-6151 Ahmed Ali v. Tammy Foss, Acting Warden, et al. Ninth Circuit 2019-10-03 Denied Response RequestedRelisted (2)IFP appellate-review certificate-of-appealability constitutional-rights criminal-procedure criminal-procedure-rights due-process habeas-corpus jury-instruction jury-instructions third-party-culpability trial-court Whether the Court of Appeals erred in denying a Certificate of Appealability on his claim that he was denied his right to present a defense
19-6104 Freya D. Pearson v. United States Eighth Circuit 2019-10-01 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP 18-usc-1001 district-court due-process duty-to-speak false-statement government-knowledge government-misconduct jury-determination jury-instruction jury-instructions materiality prosecutorial-discretion statutory-interpretation wire-fraud Can a conviction stand under 18 U.S.C. 1001 (2) without a 'Materiality' determination, and should that Determination come from the District Court or f…
19-6017 Randy Matthew Cordero v. Nick A. Guzman, et al. Ninth Circuit 2019-09-20 Denied Response WaivedIFP civil-procedure civil-rights constitutional-rights due-process jury-instruction jury-trial personal-injury standing trial-fairness issue being raised
19-5774 Patrick O. Neiss v. Montana Montana 2019-09-05 Denied Response WaivedIFP burden-of-proof circumstantial-evidence constitutional-rights due-process fourth-amendment holland-v-united-states jury-instruction jury-instructions net-worth-prosecution particularity presumption-of-innocence probable-cause reasonable-doubt search-and-seizure Should this lack of clarity be resolved by this Court?
19-5810 Daniel Lopez DeJesus v. Jeff Premo, Superintendent, Oregon State Penitentiary Ninth Circuit 2019-09-05 Denied Response WaivedIFP burden-of-proof constitutional-error criminal-procedure due-process harmless-error in-re-winship ineffective-assistance jury-instruction jury-instructions presumption winship Did the Ninth Circuit err in applying the harmless error analysis to a jury instruction that implicitly included critical elements of the crime charge…
19-5686 Ronnie L. Payne v. United States District of Columbia 2019-08-23 Denied Response WaivedIFP burden-of-proof constitutional-error criminal-procedure due-process habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-instruction jury-instructions reasonable-doubt Was trial counsel's performance objectively unreasonable when he did not object to the trial judge's faulty reasonable doubt instruction directing the…
19-5695 Riodejuonerol Hudson v. Charles Bradley, Warden Sixth Circuit 2019-08-23 Denied Response WaivedIFP aedpa aedpa-deference appellate-counsel appellate-procedure complete-defense due-process fourteenth-amendment habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-instruction sixth-amendment standard-of-review Does the denial of an 'application' alone constitute a decision 'on the merits' that warrants AEDPA deference?
19-5645 Thomas Potts v. California California 2019-08-20 Denied IFP burden-of-proof criminal-procedure due-process jury-instruction jury-instructions possession-of-stolen-property reasonable-doubt robbery robbery-murder theft Where a criminal defendant is charged with robbery (and thus death-eligible robbery-murder) and the jury must decide whether the prosecution proved ro…
19-208 Mark A. Beckham v. United States Eighth Circuit 2019-08-19 Denied appellate-review constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process harmless-error jury-instruction jury-instructions reasonable-doubt standard-of-review When is it constitutionally permissible for an appellate court to conclude that a district court's refusal to instruct the jury as to two elements of …
19-5631 Joe Fernandez v. United States Second Circuit 2019-08-19 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-924c aider-and-abettor aider-and-abettor-liability aiding-and-abetting criminal-liability criminal-procedure criminal-procedure-error-analysis harmless-error jury-instruction rosemond-standard rosemond-v-united-states statutory-interpretation sufficiency-of-evidence Whether the failure to give an instruction on aider and abetter liability for a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) that comported with this Court's decis…
19-5566 Reilies Wayne Miller v. Mark S. Inch, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections, et al. Eleventh Circuit 2019-08-13 Denied Response WaivedIFP chapman-v-california closing-arguments darden-v-wainwright due-process expert-witness fourteenth-amendment harmless-error jury-instruction jury-instructions self-defense sixth-amendment Consistent with the Fourteenth Amendment and Chapman v. California, could the harmless error analysis applied by the State as to the self-defense jury…
19-5436 Martin Araiza-Jacobo v. United States Fifth Circuit 2019-08-02 Denied IFP appellate-review circuit-split criminal-procedure criminal-procedure-error deliberate-ignorance harmless-error jury-instruction jury-instructions legal-sufficiency standard-of-review sufficiency-of-evidence Whether the standard for assessing the harmlessness of an erroneously submitted deliberate-ignorance instruction turns only on the legal sufficiency o…
19-139 Delmar Hardy v. United States Ninth Circuit 2019-07-30 Denied cheek-v-united-states criminal-tax good-faith good-faith-reliance jury-instruction jury-instructions professional-reliance reliance-on-accountant specific-intent tax-fraud tax-law tax-professional willfulness Whether a subjective standard must be applied in determining whether there was evidence of full disclosure to support a reliance on a tax professional…
19-5330 Maurice Montrae Parks v. United States Fourth Circuit 2019-07-26 GVR IFP burden-of-proof constitutional-validity criminal-conviction criminal-procedure criminal-statute due-process firearm-possession firearms jury-instruction jury-instructions mens-rea rehaif-v-united-states second-amendment statutory-interpretation Whether a new trial is warranted where the District Court failed to instruct the jury on a crucial element of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)
19-5334 Martel Valencia-Cortez v. United States Ninth Circuit 2019-07-25 Denied IFP criminal-procedure due-process evidence eyewitness-identification jury-instruction jury-instructions reliability-factors standing trial-error trial-procedure witness-identification Whether a district court commits error in a federal criminal case by failing to provide a specific eyewitness identification instruction
19-5260 Michael Levon Jackson v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2019-07-19 GVR IFP 18-usc-922g acquittal constitutional-law constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process element-of-crime jury-instruction jury-instructions jury-unanimity reasonable-doubt sentencing Does an inaccurate jury instruction on an element of a crime violate due process of law?
19-5167 Christian Don'tae Hood v. United States Fourth Circuit 2019-07-12 Denied Response WaivedIFP cellular-phone co-defendant compelled-testimony compulsory-process evidence-admissibility fifth-amendment fifth-amendment-rights jury-instruction post-arrest-interview search-and-seizure self-incrimination sixth-amendment Whether the trial court erred in admitting the appellant's post-arrest interview when the government violated his Fifth Amendment rights by forcibly u…
19-2 Jackie Hosang Lawson v. FMR LLC, dba Fidelity Investments, et al. First Circuit 2019-06-28 Denied attorney-fees civil-procedure civil-rights due-process expert-witness-testimony federal-securities-law federal-securities-laws fraud fraud-allegations jury-instruction jury-instructions legal-standards sarbanes-oxley-act securities Is the jury verdict just and proper on the two deciding questions where the jury was not made aware of what constitutes violation of Federal law relat…
19-5 Luis Arnaldo Baez v. Lorie Davis, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division Fifth Circuit 2019-06-28 Denied burden-of-proof constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process extraneous-evidence jury-instruction jury-trial limiting-instruction propensity-evidence Whether a jury instruction that permits conviction on proof of extraneous and propensity evidence, rather than on proof of all of the elements of a ch…
18-9799 Benito Rivera v. United States First Circuit 2019-06-25 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review criminal-procedure due-process judicial-discretion jury-instruction jury-instructions reasonable-doubt standard-of-proof Should certiorari be granted to find that, while a district court need not define reasonable doubt, if it does so, it cannot employ a definition that …
18-9767 LaShawn Johnson v. Randy L. White, Warden Sixth Circuit 2019-06-24 Denied Response WaivedIFP 14th-amendment 5th-amendment 6th-amendment aggravating-factors constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process indictment jury-instruction jury-instructions Does submitting aggravating factors of a crime in a jury instruction that wasn't charged in the indictment violate Due Process
18-9723 Jennifer Cardenas v. United States Second Circuit 2019-06-19 Denied Response WaivedIFP constructive-amendment due-process false-statements indictment indictment-specificity jury-instruction statutory-interpretation variance visa-fraud Whether an indictment charging visa-fraud must specify the allegedly-false-statements and include factual-allegations to establish their-falsity
18-1528 Jake Paul Heiney v. Ohio Ohio 2019-06-10 Denied Response Waived criminal-conviction criminal-procedure due-process harmless-error harmless-error-analysis jury-finding-of-guilt jury-instruction jury-instructions reasonable-doubt structural-error sullivan-v-louisiana winship Improper-jury-instruction-on-element-of-offense
18-9416 John O. Williams v. Florida Eleventh Circuit 2019-05-23 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-error constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process fundamental-fairness habeas-corpus jury-instruction jury-instructions lesser-included-offense Whether the district court judge's order of denial, denying the petitioner's habeas petition and claim, was contrary to or involved an unreasonable ap…
18-9352 Donald C. Ridley v. United States Seventh Circuit 2019-05-20 Denied Response WaivedIFP aiding-abetting aiding-and-abetting Bullcoming-v-New-Mexico confrontation-clause Crawford-v-Washington due-process griffin-v-united-states ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-instruction jury-instructions rosemond-v-united-states strickland-standard Strickland-v-Washington yates-v-united-states Does a lower Court's admission that a aiding and abetting jury instruction was erroneous in light of this Court decision in Rosemond v. United States,…
18-9236 Amy Gonzalez and David Thomas Matusiewicz v. United States Third Circuit 2019-05-10 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-2261a,overbreadth,free-speech,first-amendme 6th-amendment 6th-amendment-unanimity,criminal-procedure,jury-in 6th-amendment,5th-amendment,sentencing,jury-trial, actus-reus criminal-procedure criminal-procedure,evidence,character-evidence,pre criminal-procedure,evidence,polygraph,crane-v-kent criminal-procedure,jury-instructions,causation,act criminal-verdict due-process jury-instruction jury-trial jury-unanimity sixth-amendment Whether 18 U.S.C. § 2261A is unconstitutionally ov Whether a person can be convicted for stalking res Whether Crane v. Kentucky 476 U.S. 683 690 (1986 Whether sentencing courts may continue to violate Whether the admissibility of a civil judicial opin Whether juries must unanimously agree on the actus reus element of offenses
18-9002 David Curtis Smith v. Mark S. Inch, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections, et al. Eleventh Circuit 2019-04-26 Denied Response WaivedIFP aedpa de-novo-review ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-instruction jury-instructions prejudice prejudice-prong sixth-amendment strickland-standard strickland-v-washington Whether the Petitioner was prejudiced under the Sixth Amendment due to trial counsel's failure to object to a concededly erroneous jury instruction an…
18-8916 Steven Lawrence Wright v. California California 2019-04-19 Denied IFP abuse-of-discretion burden-of-proof criminal-procedure criminal-trial due-process fifth-amendment jury-instruction jury-instructions legal-standard motion-for-new-trial new-trial standard-of-review Did the trial court's erroneous jury instruction violate the Due Process Clause?
18-8728 Joseph Christen Thoresen v. Minnesota Minnesota 2019-04-08 Denied IFP corroborating-testimony credibility credibility-of-witnesses criminal-procedure criminal-procedure-due-process-jury-instructions-d criminal-procedure-jury-instructions drug-addiction due-process forensic-evidence jury-instruction jury-instructions methamphetamine prejudicial-evidence prejudicial-information witness-credibility Whether the court below erroneously held, in conflict with the decisions of two circuits, that a special jury instruction was not warranted when consi…
18-8565 Evender Gene Jackson v. Texas Texas 2019-03-26 Denied IFP burden-of-proof constitutional-error direct-appeal harmless-error ineffective-assistance-counsel ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-instruction jury-instructions standard-of-review strickland-standard strickland-test strickland-v-washington Whether a trial attorney's failure to object to the omission of a required jury instruction raises the burden of proof on direct appeal, where the out…
18-8575 Jose Camargo-Alejo, aka Jessica Camargo-Alejo v. United States Ninth Circuit 2019-03-26 Denied Response WaivedIFP civil-rights criminal-procedure due-process entrapment entrapment-defense jury-instruction jury-instructions law-enforcement-intent ninth-circuit-precedent objective-theory sorrells-v-united-states subjective-theory Whether a court may decline to instruct a jury on an entrapment defense because the government agents did not objectively intend to induce a crime
18-8450 Randall Alan Carder v. California California 2019-03-18 Denied IFP assault assault-with-deadly-weapon constitutional-rights counter-attack criminal-procedure deadly-weapon due-process effective-assistance-of-counsel ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-instruction jury-instructions self-defense Did the trial court violate petitioner's due process rights by failing to sua sponte instruct the jury on self-defense to a charge of assault with a d…
18-8275 Brian Sawyers v. United States Ninth Circuit 2019-03-05 Denied Response WaivedIFP civil-rights criminal-justice criminal-procedure due-process equal-protection implicit-bias jury-instruction jury-instructions jury-selection racial-bias racial-discrimination racial-prejudice sixth-amendment voir-dire Whether the federal district court should give an implicit-bias jury-instruction upon-request
18-8232 Jesus Rosales v. Texas Texas 2019-03-04 Denied IFP 6th-amendment allen-charge coercion criminal-procedure due-process judicial-discretion jury-deliberation jury-instruction jury-instructions trial-procedure At what point should a court grant defense's request for an Allen charge, so that the lack of one, in itself, does not become coercive?
18-8251 Zachariah Joel Peterson v. Jay Cassady, Warden Eighth Circuit 2019-03-04 Denied IFP certificate-of-appealability criminal-procedure due-process eighth-circuit felony-murder habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel insufficient-evidence jury-instruction jury-instructions standard-of-review Whether the Eighth Circuit court of Appeals abused its discretion in denying petitioner a COA on his claim on insufficient evidence
18-8252 Freddie Taylor v. United States Ninth Circuit 2019-03-04 Denied Response WaivedIFP actual-innocence constitutional-rights conviction due-process habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-instruction jury-instructions mistrial structural-error Whether the United States District Court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the petitioner relief pursuant to the issues raised in a petiti…
18-8120 Jerry Lynn Lofton v. Mississippi Mississippi 2019-02-25 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-procedure criminal-trial defendant-rights due-process fifth-amendment jury-instruction jury-instructions prosecutorial-comment prosecutorial-misconduct right-to-silence self-incrimination testimonial-privilege Whether a prosecutor who this Court has held may not comment to a jury concerning a defendant's failure to testify in a criminal trial may submit his …
18-7826 Curtis R. Leachman v. Thomas Winn, Warden Sixth Circuit 2019-02-07 Denied Response WaivedIFP compulsory-process criminal-procedure due-process ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-determination jury-instruction jury-instructions michigan-self-defense-act psychological-expert self-defense self-defense-statute Was petitioner denied the right to compulsory process when the trial court failed to grant funds for a psychological expert to aide the jury in determ…
18-7523 Charles James v. Jeffrey Krueger, Warden Eighth Circuit 2019-01-23 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-rights due-process equal-protection felony-murder jury-instruction jury-instructions retroactivity statutory-interpretation Whether the Iowa state court decision in State v. Heemstra, that it is an interpretation of the statute, is contrary to the decision in State v. Goosm…
18-7427 Abdirahman Yasin Daud v. United States Eighth Circuit 2019-01-16 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review criminal-procedure due-process harmless-error harmless-error-analysis jury-instruction jury-instructions jury-trial sixth-amendment specific-intent Whether the Court of Appeals' application of 'harmless error' analysis to an erroneous jury instruction violated the defendant's Sixth Amendment right…
18-7466 Glenn Bennett, Jr. v. Julie L. Jones, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections, et al. Eleventh Circuit 2019-01-16 Denied Response WaivedIFP burden-of-proof constitutional-rights criminal-defense criminal-procedure due-process fifth-amendment fourteenth-amendment ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-instruction jury-instructions sixth-amendment Whether the erroneous jury instruction given in Mr. Bennett's case negated his only defense and relieved the State of the burden of proving all elemen…
18-7222 Winifred Jiau v. United States Second Circuit 2019-01-04 Denied Response WaivedIFP 28-usc-2253 certificate-of-appealability constitutional-claims due-process habeas-corpus insider-trading jury-instruction jury-instructions statutory-interpretation Whether a prisoner must prove that some jurists would grant habeas corpus
18-7220 Pashtoon Farooqi v. California California 2019-01-03 Denied IFP bill-of-attainder civil-commitment civil-rights constitutional-challenge due-process hearsay-evidence jury-instruction mental-disorder sexually-violent-predator vagueness Does the California version of its Sexually Violent Predators Act (SVPA) violate the precedents of this Court, and is it therefore unconstitutional?
18-836 Phil Miranda Luna v. Florida Florida 2019-01-03 Denied Response Waived capital-sexual-battery criminal-procedure due-process entrapment internet-sting internet-sting-operation jury-instruction jury-instructions minor sexual-battery statutory-entrapment traveling-to-engage-sex-with-minor Whether due process is denied when a trial court refuses to instruct a jury on a statutory entrapment defense
18-6976 Joseph Lochuch Ewalan v. Washington Washington 2018-12-10 Denied IFP criminal-procedure criminal-trial double-jeopardy due-process evidentiary-basis jury-instruction jury-instructions lesser-included-offense standard-of-review state-court sufficiency-of-evidence united-states-v-dixon Whether the state trial court erred when it failed to instruct the jury on a lesser included offense when the evidence in the case supports an inferen…
18-6977 James Edward Mitchell v. California California 2018-12-10 Denied IFP california california-law constitution constitutional-law constitutional-violation criminal-law criminal-procedure due-process inhabitance-standard jury-instruction jury-instructions residential-burglary statutory-interpretation Does the standard jury instruction for residential burglary in California violate the United States Constitution where it fails to convey that the 'di…
18-6964 Henry L. Wallace v. United States District of Columbia 2018-12-07 Denied Response WaivedIFP civil-rights criminal-procedure criminal-procedure-defects double-jeopardy due-process indictment-amendment ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jurisdiction jurisdictional-defect jury-instruction jury-instructions prosecutorial-misconduct standing Whether a jurisdiction defective indictment can be procedurally or time bar adjudication
18-662 Mary McDonald v. City of Wichita, Kansas Tenth Circuit 2018-11-21 Denied Response Waived adverse-action but-for-causation but-for-cause employment-discrimination jury-instruction jury-instructions predominant-cause retaliation sole-cause sole-cause-standard standard-of-proof title-vii Does a court err by instructing a jury that a plaintiff must prove that retaliation is 'the' but-for cause of the adverse action, rather than 'a' but-…
18-6635 Eddie Hampton v. California California 2018-11-08 Denied IFP criminal-procedure criminal-procedure-error felony-murder first-degree-murder jury-instruction jury-instructions murder natural-and-probable-consequence natural-probable-consequence prejudice-standard premeditated-murder standard-of-prejudice Where she jury was erroneously instrycted on (a) Murder as a natural and presbable consequence per peopie vs chiu 39 cal 4th $35 172 cad Rotr 3d 438 3…
18-6542 Mauricio Licea v. United States Ninth Circuit 2018-11-02 Denied Response WaivedIFP civil-procedure dual-role due-process evidence expert-testimony expert-witness jury-instruction jury-instructions law-enforcement law-enforcement-testimony lay-witness trial-procedure Whether district courts must give a dual-purpose jury instruction after a law enforcement officer testifies as both an expert and a percipient witness
18-567 Danny Snapp v. Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company Ninth Circuit 2018-10-31 Denied ada ADA-interactive-process ada-reasonable-accommodation burden-of-proof civil-rights disability-discrimination employer-burden employment interactive-process jury-instruction jury-instructions reasonable-accommodation summary-judgment undue-hardship us-airways-v-barnett whether-employer-must-provide-interactive-process-instruction
18-6485 Richard Elliott Cain v. Washington Washington 2018-10-29 Denied IFP 6th-amendment character-evidence constitutional-rights criminal-procedure criminal-procedure-evidence due-process evidence fair-trial jury-instruction jury-instructions propensity-evidence search-warrant Whether the trial court erred in failing to give the jury a limiting instruction after permitting character and propensity evidence
18-6415 Amalya Cherniavsky, aka Amalya Surenovna Yegiyan v. United States Ninth Circuit 2018-10-25 Denied Response WaivedIFP circuit-split criminal-procedure district-court due-process jury-instruction jury-instructions sentencing standard-of-review sua-sponte sufficiency-of-evidence theory-of-defense trial-procedure Under what circumstances must a district court sua sponte instruct the jury on a theory of defense presented and relied upon at trial where the theory…
18-6325 Adrian Contreras-Rebollar v. Mike Obenland, Superintendent, Monroe Correctional Complex Ninth Circuit 2018-10-15 Denied Response WaivedIFP 6th-amendment certificate-of-appealability co-counsel criminal-procedure-6th-amendment-right-to-counsel- criminal-procedure-6th-amendment-self-defense-inef defense-of-another due-process ineffective-assistance jury-instruction right-to-counsel self-defense sixth-amendment Where petitioner's defense in the trial court was based on Self-Defense, petitioner did not fully trust his Dept. of Assigned Counsel lawyer, and thus…
18-6265 Samuel Silva v. United States Tenth Circuit 2018-10-10 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP criminal-procedure criminal-statute evidence evidence-prejudice federal-firearms federal-rule-403 federal-rules-of-evidence felon-in-possession felon-possession firearm-possession jury-instruction jury-instructions prejudice prejudicial-evidence probative-value rule-403 Whether the practice of telling juries in a 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) prosecution that the defendant is a previously-convicted felon should be excluded un…
18-6227 DeWayne L. Wester v. Illinois Illinois 2018-10-04 Denied Response WaivedIFP cause cause-standard ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jury-instruction jury-instructions post-conviction post-conviction-petition res-judicata successive-petition Where a State Court fail to adjudicate an issue properly raised and argued in a post conviction petition and on appeal, can the absence of a res judic…
18-6152 M. E. D. v. New Jersey New Jersey 2018-10-01 Denied Relisted (2)IFP child-endangerment criminal-procedure due-process evidence evidence-law fair-trial jury-instruction jury-instructions other-wrongs-evidence second-degree-child-endangerment victim-testimony witness-testimony Did the trial court violate petitioner's right under the due process clause to a fair trial when the court failed to instruct the jury properly on a k…
18-5972 Assane Faye v. United States Third Circuit 2018-09-13 Denied Response WaivedIFP burden-of-proof fifth-amendment indictment jury-instruction jury-instructions non-statutory-element prosecutorial-discretion sufficiency-of-evidence trial-procedure Does the government heighten its burden of proof at trial by adding a non-statutory element to the indictment, pursuing its case to include that extra…
18-5001 John Theodore Hancock v. United States Sixth Circuit 2018-06-28 Denied Response WaivedIFP burrage-standard but-for-causation causation criminal-law criminal-procedure death-penalty death-resulting due-process jury-instruction jury-instructions sentencing statutory-interpretation Whether a jury instruction that submits the question of whether a death was the result of the accused's offense by simply tracking the statutory langu…