sentencing-variance

30 cases — ← All topics

Case Title Lower Court Docketed Status Flags Tags Question Presented
25-6134 Rodrick Johnson v. United States Fifth Circuit 2025-11-17 Pending IFP 18-usc-3553 circuit-precedent fugitive-tolling sentencing-variance supervised-release supreme-court-rule-10 (1) Should this Court summarily vacate Petitioner's judgment in light of Esteras v. United States, 666 U.S. 185 (2025), because the district court bas…
24A758 Jonathan Stacy Berrier v. United States Eighth Circuit 2025-02-04 Presumed Complete criminal-procedure factual-basis interstate-travel plea-agreement sentencing-variance sex-offense Whether a defendant's disputed factual assertions during a plea colloquy can preclude a substantial upward variance based on the government's uncontro…
24-5380 Leonus Stevenson Peterson v. United States Fourth Circuit 2024-08-23 Denied Response WaivedIFP due-process evidentiary-hearing ineffective-assistance section-2255-motion sentencing-variance sixth-amendment Did the lower courts err in conflating Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights, thereby denying both due process and effective assistance of counsel, when th…
23-7071 Joseph Kelvin Aberant v. United States Fourth Circuit 2024-03-26 Denied Response WaivedIFP abuse-of-discretion advanced-age age-consideration criminal-sentencing fourth-circuit-review incarceration medical-conditions sentencing sentencing-variance variance Whether the Fourth Circuit erred by affirming the District Court's abuse of discretion by its failure to give Mr. Aberant a variance sentence and a sh…
23-7022 Elvis Edgardo Molina v. United States Ninth Circuit 2024-03-19 Denied Response WaivedIFP burns-v-united-states due-process evidence-disclosure fifth-amendment guidelines guidelines-range judicial-discretion sentencing sentencing-variance upward-variance Whether the district court's failure to disclose gun statistics from unknown sources of questionable validity to justify an unprecedented 30-month upw…
22-7796 Jose Alfredo Perez v. United States Fifth Circuit 2023-06-15 Denied Response WaivedIFP abuse-of-discretion appellate-review case-specific-facts criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing district-court due-process fifth-circuit sentencing-guidelines sentencing-variance upward-variance Whether a district court's mere recitation of the sentencing statute absent any application of case-specific facts is sufficient to support a five-yea…
22-7055 Terrindez Xsidrick Bryant v. United States Fourth Circuit 2023-03-21 Denied Response WaivedIFP advisory-guidelines booker-kimbrough-precedent district-court district-court-authority judicial-discretion kimbrough-v-united-states methamphetamine methamphetamine-sentencing sentencing-guidelines sentencing-variance united-states-v-booker Whether a sentence imposed after a district court states it is not the proper forum for addressing flawed Guidelines, and essentially treating Sentenc…
22-5562 Christopher Alexander v. United States Fifth Circuit 2022-09-12 Denied Response WaivedIFP due-process first-step-act government-response judicial-discretion misinformation reply section-404 sentencing sentencing-variance upward-variance Whether Petitioner was denied his due process rights when the district court granted his Section 404 of the First Step Act motion, but imposed upward …
22-5137 Clifford Raymond Salas v. United States Tenth Circuit 2022-07-19 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review criminal-procedure district-court-discretion due-process factual-errors plain-error prosecutorial-argument sentencing sentencing-variance tenth-circuit-review Did the Tenth Circuit wrongly hold that the district court did not plainly err, where (a) the prosecutor argued that a factually untrue reason support…
21-8171 Lamar Keith Garvin v. United States Fourth Circuit 2022-06-17 Denied Response WaivedIFP abuse-of-discretion criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing defendant-characteristics due-process judicial-discretion sentencing sentencing-disparities sentencing-guidelines sentencing-range sentencing-variance Whether the district court abused its discretion in not granting the defendant a variance sentence
21-6838 Bernard Steven Boyd v. United States Fourth Circuit 2022-01-13 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-procedure due-process fifth-amendment guideline-sentence guideline-sentencing judicial-discretion sentencing sentencing-variance upward-variance Did the Trial Court provide insufficient information or explanation to an upward variance in the Petitioner's Guideline Sentence, from a range of 51 t…
21-6609 Christopher Coffer v. United States Sixth Circuit 2021-12-14 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing defendant-health due-process health-issues judicial-discretion medical-disadvantage mitigation-factors sentencing sentencing-guidelines sentencing-variance variance What is the extent of medical disadvantage that a defendant must present in order to secure a variance based on ill health?
21-5425 Jay J. Sawatzky v. United States Eighth Circuit 2021-08-20 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-rights criminal-procedure due-process felon-in-possession first-amendment judicial-discretion racist-paraphernalia racist-views sentencing sentencing-variance upward-variance Whether a sentencing judge may impose an upward variance on a defendant convicted of possessing firearms and ammunition as a felon, based on that defe…
21-5409 Antonyo Reece v. United States Fifth Circuit 2021-08-18 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-procedure district-court judicial-discretion pepper-precedent pepper-v-united-states rehabilitation-evidence sentencing sentencing-variance upward-departure Whether imposing an upward departure of 200 months to a criminal defendant who has exemplary rehabilitation evidence is incongruous to this Court's ho…
20-8254 Demario M. Peterson v. United States Sixth Circuit 2021-06-08 Denied Response WaivedIFP acquitted-conduct due-process fifth-amendment jury-trial procedural-reasonableness sentencing sentencing-variance sixth-amendment substantive-reasonableness Whether the Sixth Amendment, Fifth Amendment, and this Court's jurisprudence on the procedural and substantive reasonableness of sentences are implica…
20-7100 Ryan Detrell Robinson v. United States Fourth Circuit 2021-02-10 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-procedure appellate-review circuit-court-review constitutional-law criminal-procedure district-court-judgment due-process equal-protection sentencing sentencing-variance Whether the Circuit Court Erred Failing To Reverse District Court's Imposition of an 'Alternate Variance Sentence' Which Was Designed To Insulate The …
19-5883 Richard Johnson v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2019-09-10 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-procedure eleventh-circuit evidentiary-hearing fourth-amendment franks-challenge franks-v-delaware gall-standard search-warrant search-warrant-challenge-standard sentencing-variance substantial-preliminary-showing substantive-reasonableness veracity Whether this Court Should Clarify the Quantum Necessary for a Finding of a 'Substantial Preliminary Showing' That Entitles Defendants to a Hearing in …
19-5412 Jean Claude Phillip McKenzie v. United States Sixth Circuit 2019-07-31 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-3553(a) 18-usc-3553a 6th-circuit appellate-review criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing district-court history-and-characteristics judicial-discretion nature-and-circumstances sentencing sentencing-factors sentencing-guidelines sentencing-variance Whether the district court's upward variance in sentencing was proper
19-5077 Carlton P. Cabot v. United States Second Circuit 2019-07-05 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review clear-error criminal-procedure factual-determination factual-findings olano plain-error rule-52(b) sentencing-variance standard-of-review Does plain error review apply to unobjected to factual determinations?
18-9578 James Jacob Parrish, Jr. v. United States Fourth Circuit 2019-06-07 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing due-process firearm-enhancement ineffective-assistance-of-counsel prior-conviction procedural-reasonableness sentencing sentencing-departure sentencing-guidelines sentencing-procedure sentencing-reasonableness sentencing-variance sixth-amendment substantive-reasonableness Whether Parrish's sentence was procedurally and substantively unreasonable
18-9434 Juan Carlos Rodriguez v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2019-05-29 Denied Response WaivedIFP 404(b) 4th-amendment co-defendant-consent consent-search consent-to-search fourth-amendment jury-instructions prior-bad-acts prior-bad-acts-404(b) rule-404b search-and-seizure sentencing sentencing-variance standing-4th-amendment-search-and-seizure standing-to-suppress variance warrantless-search Whether the trial and appellate court erred in adjudging that Petitioner had no standing to request suppression of evidence obtained from a warrantles…
18-8675 Joshua Sedillo v. United States Tenth Circuit 2019-04-05 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-procedure appellate-review circuit-precedent criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing district-court due-process gall-v-united-states judicial-review rita-v-united-states sentencing sentencing-guidelines sentencing-variance variance Is the Tenth Circuit precedent allowing a district court to say nothing when a reasonable request for a variance is made at sentencing consistent with…
18-8521 Angel Galan v. United States Second Circuit 2019-03-22 Denied Response WaivedIFP 8th-amendment criminal-procedure due-process felon-in-possession firearm-offense ineffective-assistance obstruction-enhancement sentencing-guidelines sentencing-variance substantive-reasonableness upward-variance Whether the sentencing court's upward variance from 71 months to 84 months for felon in possession of a firearm was substantively unreasonable
18-8451 Luciano Garcia v. United States Tenth Circuit 2019-03-18 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-procedure appellate-review criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing district-court due-process gall-v-united-states judicial-review rita-v-united-states sentencing sentencing-guidelines sentencing-variance tenth-circuit variance Is the Tenth Circuit precedent allowing a district court to say nothing when a reasonable request for a variance is made at sentencing consistent with…
18-8268 Alandis D. Patterson v. United States Fourth Circuit 2019-03-06 Denied Response WaivedIFP acceptance-of-responsibility criminal-history criminal-procedure drug-possession due-process presentence-investigation sentencing-factors sentencing-guidelines sentencing-variance sexual-abuse Did the trial court err in overruling the Petitioner's objection to the Application of a two-level increase pursuant to U.S.S.G. Section 2G1.1(c)(1), …
18-7862 Vincent Beatty, aka Jamaal Beatty, aka Vincent Daward Beatty, aka Mozzi v. United States Fourth Circuit 2019-02-08 Denied Response WaivedIFP abuse-of-discretion advisory-guidelines criminal-history criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing felon-in-possession reasonableness reasonableness-review sentencing-guidelines sentencing-variance sua-sponte upward-variance Whether a sua sponte upward variance sentence is reasonable where the advisory Guideline range accurately reflected the defendant's conduct and prior …
18-642 Morris E. Zukerman v. United States Second Circuit 2018-11-19 Denied Amici (1)Relisted (2) 18-usc-3742 appellate-review criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing district-court-discretion sentencing-explanation sentencing-guidelines sentencing-procedure sentencing-reasonableness sentencing-variance shocks-the-conscience substantive-reasonableness substantive-unreasonableness Whether a court of appeals that finds that a district court has failed adequately to explain a sentence can simply request further elaboration without…
18-6237 Jacob L. Smith v. United States Tenth Circuit 2018-10-09 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP 18-usc-3553 appellate-review circuit-split criminal-procedure criminal-procedure-appeal due-process gall-v-united-states plain-error plain-error-review preservation-of-error sentencing sentencing-variance In order to preserve a § 3553(c) challenge to the adequacy of the district court's sentencing explanation, must a party, who is given no opportunity t…
18-5397 Alejandro Parra-Ramos v. United States Ninth Circuit 2018-07-30 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-procedure defendant-prejudice due-process government-misconduct judicial-discretion plain-error plea-agreement plea-agreement-breach prejudice prosecutorial-breach sentencing sentencing-guidelines sentencing-recommendation sentencing-variance upward-variance whether a defendant suffers prejudice when the government breaches a plea agreement by calling its agreed-upon recommendation irrational, and the cour…
18-5089 Kevin Khaaliq Beamon v. United States Fourth Circuit 2018-07-02 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-3553(a) criminal-history criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing due-process judicial-discretion sentencing-guidelines sentencing-upon-revocation sentencing-variance substance-addiction supervised-release upward-variance Whether a district court may impose a significant upward variance at sentencing upon revocation of supervised release on an individual who had never b…