legal-sufficiency

45 cases — ← All topics

Case Title Lower Court Docketed Status Flags Tags Question Presented
25-633 Dennis A. George, Jr. v. United States Armed Forces 2025-12-03 Denied Response Waived charging-document due-process fair-notice fifth-amendment legal-sufficiency sixth-amendment Under the Fifth Amendment right to due process and the Sixth Amendment right to fair notice, may a conviction be affirmed as legally sufficient based …
25-5647 Kolby Reshaad Moore v. Louisiana Louisiana 2025-09-16 Denied IFP appellate-review criminal-appeal insufficient-evidence legal-sufficiency murder-conviction reasonable-doubt WHETHER THE SECOND CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE STATE OF LOUISIANA AND THE LOUISIANA SUPREME COURT ERRED WHEN IT DENIED PETITIONER'S CLAIM RAISED …
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…
25-5215 Otoniel Cornejo v. California California 2025-07-29 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-inference evidentiary-standard firearm-ability force-application legal-sufficiency substantial-evidence Does the record lack substantial evidence to support an inference that petitioner had the present ability to apply force with a firearm when that fire…
24-7294 Rustin Randall Middleton v. Louisiana Louisiana 2025-05-28 Denied IFP criminal-appeal evidence-challenge legal-sufficiency louisiana-supreme-court sentence-review writ-application Whether the Louisiana Supreme Court erred in denying petitioner's writ application challenging the sufficiency of evidence and excessiveness of senten…
24-5689 Joshua Paul Cox v. United States Fifth Circuit 2024-10-02 Denied Response WaivedIFP district-court-review judicial-review jurist-standard lawyer-effectiveness legal-sufficiency sentencing-performance Whether a reasonable jurist might disagree with the district court or Judge Graves about the sufficiency and effect of the lawyer's performance at sen…
24-5664 Christian Pabon v. United States Second Circuit 2024-09-30 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-conviction due-process enterprise-membership legal-sufficiency murder-in-aid racketeering-conspiracy Whether the evidence was legally insufficient to establish enterprise membership and whether a rational fact finder could have found the petitioner gu…
23-7613 Tre' Anthony James v. Louisiana Louisiana 2024-06-03 Denied IFP appellate-review due-process factual-sufficiency jackson-standard jackson-v-virginia law-of-the-case legal-sufficiency new-trial Is an appellate court's reversal of a trial court's grant of a new trial reviewable?
23-886 Carlos Guardado v. Massachusetts Massachusetts 2024-02-16 Denied Amici (1)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) burks-v-united-states change-in-law criminal-procedure double-jeopardy evidence legal-sufficiency prosecution-evidence second-trial supreme-court-precedent trial-rights Whether there is an exception to the Burks v. United States holding that the Double Jeopardy Clause forbids a second trial to allow the prosecution to…
23-6179 Anibal Miranda-Montanez v. United States First Circuit 2023-12-06 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review case-review criminal-procedure due-process judicial-review jury-instructions legal-sufficiency procedural-challenge standard-of-review sufficiency-of-evidence trial-evidence verdict-challenge Whether the evidence was insufficient for the verdict to stand
23-5808 Rodney Jennings v. Shawn Phillips, Warden Sixth Circuit 2023-10-17 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP appellate-review certificate-of-appealability doyle-rule doyle-v-ohio habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance-of-counsel jackson-standard jackson-v-virginia legal-sufficiency strickland-test strickland-v-washington Did the court of appeals err in denying a certificate of appealability and in evaluating petitioner's claim under Jackson v. Virginia, Doyle v. Ohio, …
23-371 D'Andre M. Johnson v. United States Armed Forces 2023-10-06 Denied Amici (1)Response Waived case-scope court-of-appeals harmonious-reading jurisdiction jurisdictional-question legal-sufficiency legislative-history military-justice standard-of-review statutory-interpretation surplusage-canon Whether 28 U.S.C. § 1259(8) gives this Court jurisdiction to consider issues raised to, but not granted review by, the Court of Appeals for the Armed …
22-5997 Tarence Kirkland v. New York New York 2022-11-07 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing criminal-verdict cross-examination due-process evidence fair-trial identification legal-sufficiency second-degree-offense weight-of-evidence Was the trial court's decision on Rodriguez's identification and use of other crimes and bad acts on cross-examination result in the denial of a fair …
22-5924 Carl Jones v. Pennsylvania Pennsylvania 2022-10-27 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-procedure appellate-review constitutional-law constitutional-review criminal-procedure due-process evidentiary-standard legal-sufficiency self-defense standard-of-review sufficiency-of-evidence Does the well-settled standard and scope of review governing claims a standard and scope of constitutional dimension prohibit an appellate court from …
22-5527 Dora L. Adkins v. Tyson's Lodging, LLC Fourth Circuit 2022-09-08 Denied IFP administrative-law appellate-review circuit-court-affirmance civil-procedure district-court-judgment due-process equal-protection federal-courts legal-sufficiency per-curiam-opinion rule-60-motion standing Whether the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Erred in the per curiam unpublished opinion and/or Judgment
22-113 Bradley Jacobs Shumway v. Texas Texas 2022-08-04 Denied Response Waived common-law corpus-delicti due-process ex-post-facto judicial-exception legal-sufficiency retroactive-application Whether the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas denied Mr. Shumway due process of law
22-5019 Amber Renee Guyger v. Texas Texas 2022-07-01 Denied IFP constitutional-review criminal-procedure due-process jackson-v-virginia legal-sufficiency mistake-of-fact self-defense Under the legal sufficiency standard of Jackson v. Virginia, a court violates due process by concluding that self-defense and mistake-of-fact are mutu…
21-8140 Richard Chippero v. Matthew J. Platkin, Acting Attorney General of New Jersey, et al. Third Circuit 2022-06-14 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review burden-of-proof constitutional-rights criminal-conviction criminal-procedure due-process insufficient-evidence legal-sufficiency sufficiency-of-evidence Should Petitioner's convictions be vacated due to insufficient evidence?
21-6952 Sunrise Lee v. United States First Circuit 2022-01-25 Denied Relisted (2)IFP circuit-split conspiracy controlled-substances criminal-procedure due-process evidence-standard federal-court judgment-of-acquittal legal-sufficiency physician prescription-drugs Whether a non-physician may be convicted of conspiring with a physician to prescribe controlled substances outside of the course of professional pract…
21-876 John G. Williams, Jr. v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2021-12-14 Denied Response Waived criminal-liability due-process general-verdict jury-instructions jury-verdict legal-sufficiency wire-fraud yates-rule Whether a general guilty verdict on charges of wire fraud must be set aside on Due Process grounds if the jury could have or might have found guilt ba…
21-5286 Gerald M. Calmese v. Arizona Arizona 2021-08-04 Denied IFP conviction criminal-indictment double-jeopardy due-process essential-elements fraudulent-schemes indictment legal-sufficiency multiplicity sentencing-error Is there legally sufficient evidence to establish beyond a reasonable doubt the required element for fraudulent schemes for which the petitioner was c…
21-5106 Logan Viquesney v. United States Tenth Circuit 2021-07-14 Denied Response WaivedIFP conviction criminal-procedure due-process indictment jury-instructions legal-sufficiency notice state-offense sufficiency-of-evidence Whether the Court can sustain a conviction when a required element of the state offense is not charged in the indictment
20-8328 Juan E. Seary-Colon v. United States First Circuit 2021-06-16 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review burden-of-proof constitutional-challenge conviction-review criminal-procedure due-process insufficient-evidence legal-sufficiency procedural-review standard-of-review sufficiency-of-evidence Whether Evidence was Totally Insufficient for the Conviction to Stand
20-6986 Lorenzo Escudero v. Bobby Lumpkin, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division Fifth Circuit 2021-01-28 Denied IFP civil-rights constitutional-rights due-process equal-protection fundamental-rights habeas-corpus legal-sufficiency sentencing trial-by-jury trial-rights Whether the petitioner's constitutional rights were violated through deprivations of due process, trial by jury, equal protection, and other fundament…
20-6842 Christine D'Onofrio v. Costco Wholesale Corporation Eleventh Circuit 2021-01-12 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review civil-procedure federal-rules-of-civil-procedure legal-sufficiency rule-50b-motion seventh-amendment standard-of-review sufficiency-of-evidence supreme-court-precedent Whether the majority opinion in affirming the grant of a Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(b) motion failed to apply the correct standard of review, and under the co…
20-6765 Kevin Wayne Dickson v. Bobby Lumpkin, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division Fifth Circuit 2021-01-04 Denied IFP appeal appellate-procedure civil-rights constitutional-interpretation due-process expert-witness ineffective-assistance-of-counsel judicial-review legal-sufficiency standard-of-review state-court-review Whether the Fifth Court of Appeal committed error in concluding that the appellant's ineffective assistance of counsel claim could not be reviewed on …
20-5421 Doved Ben Downer v. Mark S. Inch, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections, et al. Eleventh Circuit 2020-08-19 Denied Response WaivedIFP charging-document criminal-law criminal-procedure double-jeopardy drug-possession due-process information-charging legal-sufficiency racketeering statutory-interpretation Whether simple possession under Fla. Stat. § 893.13(6)(a) is a legally permissible racketeering predicate incident under Fla. Stat. §§ 895.02(1)(a), 8…
20-5073 Gilberto Martinez-Hernandez v. United States Ninth Circuit 2020-07-15 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-procedure appellate-review civil-procedure clear-error evidentiary-errors harmless-error judicial-review judicial-standard legal-sufficiency standard-of-review Whether the court of appeals committed clear error by concluding that significant evidentiary errors were harmless
19-8900 Jeffrey Chleo Brown v. United States Fifth Circuit 2020-07-06 Denied IFP appellate-preservation circuit-split criminal-procedure district-court-procedure factual-dispute factual-objection legal-sufficiency preservation-of-appeal procedural-error sentencing sentencing-objection standard-of-review Is a factual objection at sentencing sufficient to preserve for appeal the district court's failure to resolve the ensuing dispute?
19-8765 Tizazu F. Arega v. Lisa L. Sadler, Judge, et al. Ohio 2020-06-19 Denied IFP 14th-amendment conviction criminal-procedure due-process evidence judicial-review jury-instructions jury-misconduct legal-sufficiency sexual-intercourse trial-procedure verdict-validity Was the decision of the Supreme Court of Ohio contrary to clearly established federal law and the Supreme Court of the United States precedent of Cole…
19-8466 Branch William Niehouse v. Brigitte Amsberry Ninth Circuit 2020-05-14 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-law evidence force legal-sufficiency lost-and-found property-rights robbery robbery-evidence speculative-testimony trespass trespassing use-of-force Whether the evidence of robbery was legally sufficient when the only evidence of threatened use of force was speculation about sunglasses that may hav…
19-7391 Larry David Davis v. Larry Tegley, et al. Eighth Circuit 2020-01-23 Denied Relisted (2)IFP administrative-law appellate-standard civil-procedure civil-rights due-process insufficient-evidence judicial-review legal-sufficiency patent record-review standing takings trial-court Whether the PEMCE [5 in. (em) 12 support the petitioner's claims
19-6002 Nicole Rena McCrea v. Mark S. Devan, et al. Maryland 2019-09-20 Denied IFP appellate-review civil-procedure due-process federal-jurisdiction judicial-conflict legal-sufficiency maryland-law maryland-rule standing statutory-interpretation supreme-court-precedent Is the Maryland Court of Special Appeals' March 13, 2019 unpublished Opinion and Memorandum affirming the judgment of the Circuit Court of Charles Cou…
19-5791 Marcus Jackson v. Vance Laughlin, Warden, et al. Georgia 2019-09-03 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-counsel appellate-review discretionary-relief discretionary-review error-of-law habeas-corpus ineffective-assistance-of-counsel irrational-strategy legal-sufficiency sixth-amendment state-appeals sufficiency-of-evidence thirteenth-juror thirteenth-juror-review Did the Georgia courts err by refusing to remedy appellate counsel's professionally deficient, and prejudicial, waiver of a claim for discretionary re…
19-5450 Paul Suarez v. United States Fifth Circuit 2019-08-06 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-924c appeal conviction criminal-conviction criminal-procedure drug-trafficking firearm-offense jury-unanimity law-of-the-case legal-sufficiency manifest-injustice sufficiency-of-evidence Did the panel err by holding that the 'law of the case' governed its decision in holding that the evidence was legally sufficient to sustain the petit…
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…
19-5290 Ryan Keith Mason v. Lorie Davis, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division Fifth Circuit 2019-07-23 Denied IFP appellate-review attorney-performance credibility credibility-determination criminal-procedure deference deference-standard deference-to-trial-court evidence ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel legal-sufficiency plea-bargaining plea-offer standard-of-review Whether a court of appeals erred in finding that deference to a trial court's factual finding on an attorney's provision of a favorable plea offer was…
19-5079 Kenneth Blackwell v. Georgia Georgia 2019-07-05 Denied Response WaivedIFP appeal-discretion appellate-procedure appellate-review evidence issue-preservation judicial-discretion legal-sufficiency legal-theory prior-bad-acts prior-difficulties-evidence standard-of-review state-argument trial-court trial-court-discretion trial-procedure waiver Whether the Georgia Court of Appeals erred when it held that the trial court admitted Petitioner's sexual acts in Ohio as prior difficulties evidence …
18-9817 Deterryon Tyrell Kelly v. Texas Texas 2019-06-26 Denied IFP criminal-conviction criminal-procedure due-process evidence evidence-standard inference-stacking jackson-v-virginia legal-sufficiency speculative-evidence sufficiency sufficiency-of-evidence Can evidence meet the legal sufficiency standard of Jackson v. Virginia if the evidence relied upon for conviction is primarily speculative and infere…
18-9677 Martin Arreola Zavala v. United States Eighth Circuit 2019-06-14 Denied Response WaivedIFP acceptance-of-responsibility contested-cases criminal-procedure drug-quantity due-process evidence evidence-determination federal-courts federal-sentencing legal-sufficiency quantity-determinations sentencing sentencing-guidelines standard-of-review sufficiency-of-evidence Whether this court should grant certiorari to address the proper application of law to fact relating to sufficiency of the evidence for quantity deter…
18-9483 Brian Alford v. Dwight Neven, Warden, et al. Ninth Circuit 2019-05-30 Denied IFP burglary burglary-allegation constitutional-law criminal-law criminal-procedure due-process felony-murder legal-sufficiency probable-cause prosecution-standard sufficiency-of-evidence Whether it is permissible for a state criminal court to predicate felony murder liability on an allegation of burglary that lacks sufficient bases in …
18-1383 James M. Hale v. United States Armed Forces 2019-05-03 Denied Response Waived 10-usc-802 court-martial court-martial-jurisdiction general-verdict judicial-deference jurisdictional-defects jurisdictional-limits legal-sufficiency military-discipline military-discipline-jurisdiction military-law overt-acts plain-error rostker-v-goldberg sufficiency-of-evidence weiss-v-united-states Whether the court-martial had jurisdiction over the charged conduct
18-8372 Dominique Green v. Texas Texas 2019-03-11 Denied IFP appellant-rights civil-procedure civil-rights court-determination due-process evidence evidentiary-standard fact fact-and-law informal-marriage legal-sufficiency marriage marriage-evidence standing Did she Loust of Anpeads eccod Wwhen it derermincd aod Vert WHS leqarlyy \\asudlicient evidence to Estaalish a inloramnal Wnarrage Wer Ween Appatank A…
18-7200 Dayvon Bryan Riley v. United States Fourth Circuit 2019-01-02 Denied Response WaivedIFP actual-innocence equitable-analysis evidence evidence-claim federal-habeas habeas-corpus legal-sufficiency schlup-standard schlup-v-delo Whether a petitioner's claim in a federal habeas case that it is logically impossible that they committed an element of the offense is an actual innoc…
18-6464 Frank Ralph LaPena v. George Grigas, et al. Ninth Circuit 2018-10-26 Denied Response WaivedIFP contract-killing criminal-conviction criminal-procedure due-process habeas-corpus highly-deferential-review ineffective-assistance-of-counsel legal-insufficiency legal-sufficiency nevada-supreme-court physical-evidence rational-juror reasonable-doubt sufficiency-of-evidence witness-testimony wrongful-conviction Whether the Nevada Supreme Court's decision rejecting the legal insufficiency claim was unreasonable because, even under a highly deferential review, …