United States vs. Carlos Alfonso Moreno
On July 12, 2004, Carlos Alfonso Moreno appeared before the United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit. He brought before the court an appeal challenging the district court’s calculation of his sentencing under the United States Sentencing Guideline. The panel determined after reviewing his case that an oral argument would not be necessary. They were able to look at the details of his case and make their decision.
Mr. Moreno was charged in district court with various drug offenses and with being a felon in possession of a firearm. He entered a guilty plea to possession with intent to distribute more than fifty grams of a substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person
In the pre-sentence report recommending Mr. Moreno's sentence, the Probation Officer added a point to his criminal history score as a result of September 2001 convictions for driving with a suspended license and for unsafe turning or stopping. For this earlier offense, Mr. Moreno was sentenced to six months in jail, with all but five days suspended, and six months of probation. The Probation Officer justified the addition of this point by citing the sentencing guidelines, which direct that sentences for less than sixty days should be given one point. The Probation Officer then determined that Mr. Moreno's criminal history points totaled ten, placing him at the bottom of criminal history category. The district court agreed with this result and calculated Mr. Moreno's total adjusted offense level to be twenty-five. The court subsequently sentenced Mr. Moreno to 100 months in prison, which is at the bottom of the 100 to 125 month range for an offense level twenty-five and criminal history category 5.
On appeal, Mr. Moreno asserts the district court erred by adding a point to his criminal history for the earlier sentence. Absent the additional point, Mr. Moreno would have been in a lower criminal history category and hence could have been subjected to a shorter sentence. However, because Mr. Moreno failed to raise an objection before the district court regarding the additional point for the September 2001 sentence, his sentencing stood.
This case involves suspect Lucy Cisneros Bermudez being arrested for HS 11364(A) – Drug Paraphernalia. A records check revealed that Bermudez had an outstanding warrant out of San Bernardino County. Bermudez was transported to The Pasadena City Jail, where she was booked for HS 11364(A) and her outstanding warrant out of San Bernardino County.
3. Procedural History: This matter comes before the court on motions of defendants for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, for new trial pursuant to Rule 59 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and for amended judgment. We have considered defendants' motions collectively and individually and conclude that neither a new trial, judgment notwithstanding the verdict, nor amended judgment is warranted. The evidence supports the jury's verdict.
The case State v. Snowden is an appeal by the defendant were the defendant pleaded guilty to an evidence charging Raymond Alien Snowden with the crime of murder of first degree. The trial of the defendant was represented by the district Court, 3rd Judicial District, Ada County, were Snowden entered judgment and sentenced of death but he appealed. Snowed was at a bar in the evening drinking and playing pool in a Boise pool room, he and other person visited another club near the one where they were playing pool, nearby Garden city. That same day Snowden and his friend visited several bars also drinking, at the end they stop at HiHo club. That same bar he met and starts having a conversation to this lady Cora Lucyle Dean, they start dancing and having a time together and they left together, while they were walking they start arguing in the street, because she wanted him to find her a cab and take her to back to Boise, but he said that he shouldn’t be paying her fare.
Criminals can come in many different shapes and sizes. For example, a criminal can be classified as being a murderer or a criminal could just simply have committed fraud in a business setting. There is a large diversity of criminals and it is the judge’s job to determine what is a fair punishment for a guilty verdict. Judge Ron Swanson, a federal judge for the Florida District Court of Appeal, deals with using cost-benefit analysis daily to determine what is fair for everyone involved. Before becoming a judge, Judge Swanson was a prosecutor coming out of law school in the University of Florida. As a prosecutor and a judge, Judge Swanson has always worked to bring justice for the victims, the defendant if he or she is innocent, and for the citizens
Throughout the trial, defense attorneys attempted to argue Salvi was suffering from psychological disorders that would make him incompetent for trial. Ultimately, however Salvi was found competent to stand trial. After reading Salvi’s full psychiatric interview, the official court transcript of the four-day competency hearing, and the day-to-day summary; I have come to agree that the defendant, John Salvi was competent to stand trial.
On Bloodsworth’s appeal he argued several points. First he argued that there was not sufficient evidence to tie Bloodsworth to the crime. The courts ruled that the ruling stand on the grounds that the witness evidence was enough for reasonable doubt that the c...
Congress in 1990 enacted the Gun-Free School Zone Act, making it a federal offence to possess a firearm in a school zone. Congress relied on the authority of the Commerce Clause of the Constitution to justify passage of legislation as a way of stemming the rising tide of gun related incidents in public schools.
To conclude Adnan Syed deserves a new trial because there was a founding of new evidence and insufficient evidence, both of which fit the requirements of a new trial. A new trial would help us gain a better understanding of what actually happened the day Hae was
After pleading not guilty, Lopez’s attorneys attempted to dismiss the charges, stating that “Congress had exceeded its authority by passing the act,”(Anderson) under the Commerce Clause. Congress refused the request, and Lopez was sentenced to six months in prison and two years of supervised release. Alfonzo appealed this notion, and the case was sent to the Supreme Court. After reviewing the case and reconsidering the decision, Chief Justice Rehnquist ruled in favor of Alfonzo Lopez. The Court stated that Lopez’s crime was “a criminal statute and had nothing to do with interstate commerce or economic
Lawyer: Firstly, Your Honour and members of the Jury, I thank you for your time. My name is Evelynne Lee and I am a lawyer for the Defence.I am here today to prove that the intentions of Hernan Cortez were good and honorable and is innocent of the crime of genocide against indigenous civilisations. It is my belief that the Defendant is not responsible and innocent of the charges on the basis that the intentions of Cortes were good and honourable. To prove my statement about Cortes, I intend to call witnesses and give exhibits to prove that his motives were good and honourable to not destroy indigenous civiisations.-30seconds
Syme, D. (1997). Martin Bryant's Sentence- What the judge said, Retrieved 5 July, 2003, from http://www.geniac.net/portarthur/sentence.htm. 7. The Australian Encyclopaedia.
Regardless, it is still disturbing to see ninety-four years of precedented law so easily dismissed in the Supreme Court’s ruling in O'Callahan v. Parker; however, luckily, eighteen years later, the error was corrected in their decision of Solorio v. United States.
The presentence investigation report in question outlined Smith's previous record, which included twelve juvenile entries. The sentencing judge imposed the sentence because Smith's record included seven prior felonies and three misdemeanors, and he viewed the sentence as
The standard of review for both of the issues in this appeal is de novo. We explain below why that is so.
She explained that his involvement in the crime was not excessive and that it was his brother who was the leader. She went on to describe his eight previous arrests for crimes like robbery and cocaine possession. Given his long history she said she was not surprised to see him involved in this kind of case. Because of his other charges I thought the prosecutor was going to suggest the higher end of the sentencing guidelines. However, as she continued I realized I was incorrect. Instead of focusing on his previous crimes she talked about how he needed rehabilitation. She emphasized recovery from his current lifestyle more than sending him to prison again. She brought up his involvement in his church and his successful marriage and questioned why he would throw all of that away. She also suggested that he turn to his church and his wife for support and to aid him in his battle with addiction. Throughout the case, the prosecutor was compassionate and seemed more like a disappointed parent to the defendant rather than angry. The one time the prosecutor did act somewhat harsh was towards the middle of her statement. She brought up the fact that the defendant had previous medical conditions such as a stab and shot wounds. She suggested that the defense had asked for these injuries to be taken into account when the sentence was decided on. She was adamant that the court should not take