Justia U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's sentence imposed in connection with his plea of guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and possession with intent to distribute the same, holding that a defendant's potential future deportation is a factor that a sentencing court may consider under 18 U.S.C. 3553(a).By the time of sentencing, a detainer had been filed against Defendant with an eye toward subsequent deportation. Defendant requested that the sentencing court consider his future deportation and the possibility of a downward variance on that basis. The district court determined that it would not give weight to Defendant's potential deportation when fashioning Defendant's sentence. The court then imposed an eighty-seven-month term of immurement. The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) under appropriate circumstances, a defendant's potential deportation may properly be considered pursuant to section 3553(a)(1); and (2) the court did not abuse its discretion in determining that it would not give weight to Defendant's potential future deportation. View "United States v. Hercules" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed the sentence imposed in connection with Defendant's plea of guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, holding that Defendant's appeal waiver barred this appeal.Defendant pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. The district court sentenced Defendant to thirty-seven months' imprisonment and ordered that the sentence run consecutively to a seven-year sentence Defendant had previously received for an unrelated state drug offense. Defendant appealed, arguing that the district court erred by imposing a consecutive, rather than a concurrent, sentence. The government argued that Defendant's appeal was barred because, as part of his guilty plea, he expressly waived his right to appeal. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that enforcement of the appeal waiver did not result in a miscarriage of justice. View "United States v. Santiago" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed the sentence imposed by the district court in connection with Defendant's plea of guilty to a single count charging him with drug distribution in violation of 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), holding that the sentence was supportable when viewed as an upward variance.Relying on a finding that a death resulted from the offense of conviction in this case, the district court imposed an above-the-range term of imprisonment. The court justified the sentence both as an upward departure and an upward variance. On appeal, Defendant challenged his sixty-month sentence both procedurally and substantively. The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) any error in invoking a departure guideline was harmless where the district court would have imposed exactly the same sentence by means of a variance; (2) the district court did not abuse its discretion by considering in its decision to impose an upward variance the fact that an individual died after using the fentanyl-laced substance knowingly sold to him by Defendant; and (3) the sentence was not outside the universe of reasonable sentencing outcomes and therefore was substantively reasonable. View "United States v. Heindenstrom" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed the district court's order dismissing Plaintiff's disability discrimination and failure to accommodate claims on summary judgment, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in partially striking Plaintiff's affidavit submitted in support of his opposition to Defendant's motion for summary judgment and that Plaintiff failed to establish a prima facie case of disability discrimination or a claim for failure to accommodate.Specifically, the Court held (1) the district court did not clearly abuse its discretion in striking Plaintiff's inconsistent statements in his affidavit; and (2) the district court properly granted summary judgment because Plaintiff failed to establish a prima facie case of disability discrimination and that Plaintiff's failure to accommodate claims failed on the merits. View "Flaherty v. Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc." on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's convictions and dismissed without prejudice Defendant's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief on her allegations of error.Defendant was convicted of twelve counts of making a materially false statement to a federal agency. On appeal, Defendant argued, among other things, that she received ineffective assistance of trial counsel. The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) Defendant's convictions were supported by sufficient evidence; (2) Defendant was not denied her federal constitutional right to be present at any stage of the criminal proceeding; (3) the district court did not abuse its discretion in providing a so-called "nullification instruction" to the jury; (4) Defendant waived a duplicity challenge to certain counts; and (5) the record was not sufficiently developed to permit appellate consideration of Defendant's ineffective assistance of counsel claim. View "United States v. Brown" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court granting the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) motion to dismiss Plaintiff's complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and failure to state a claim, holding that Plaintiff's claims were not entitled to judicial review.Plaintiff, in his capacity as trustee for the F2 Liquidating Trust, filed a complaint against the SEC asserting two claims under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. 551 et seq. The district court dismissed the case, determining (1) the right to judicial review of the SEC order at issue had been waived as part of a settlement between the SEC and F-Squared Investments, Inc., a former investment advisory firm; and (2) in any event, the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because Congress vested the courts of appeals with exclusive jurisdiction over challenges to SEC orders. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that the district court correctly decided that the complaint failed to state a claim inasmuch as F-Squared waived judicial review by any court. View "Jalbert v. U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's sentence of 240 months' imprisonment imposed in connection with his guilty plea to one count of possession of child pornography and one count of accessing child pornography with intent to view, holding that the sentence was neither procedurally nor substantively unreasonable.The district court sentenced Defendant to the statutory maximum sentence on each count, to be served concurrently. The First Circuit affirmed the sentence, holding (1) the district court did not err in applying enhancements given for a pattern of activity involving the sexual abuse of minors and for obstruction of justice; (2) the acceptance of responsibility reduction was properly denied; and (3) the district court's imposition of the statutory maximum sentence was substantively reasonable. View "United States v. Coffin" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's sentence imposed in connection with his guilty plea and conviction on charges of bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud, holding that the sentence was neither procedurally nor substantively unreasonable.Defendant was convicted on charges of bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud. The district court sentenced Defendant to thirty-six months of imprisonment and four years of supervised release. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that the district court (1) did not commit procedural errors in calculating Defendant's Guidelines sentencing range; and (2) Defendant's challenge to the substantive reasonableness of her sentence was unavailing. View "United States v. Jimenez" on Justia Law

In this case alleging negligent design, the First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court in favor of Defendants on the ground that Plaintiff failed to establish the applicable standard of care, a breach of duty, and that the accident giving rise to this action was foreseeable to Defendants, holding that judgment was properly granted for Defendants.When a vehicle was driven into another vehicle parked outside a building, the parked vehicle crashed into the building's open terrace, injuring several individuals sitting within the terrace, including Plaintiff, Plaintiff sued the owner of the building, his heirs, and his insurer, arguing that the terrace was negligently designed. The district court entered judgment for the defense. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that Plaintiff failed to show damage through fault or negligence of Defendants. View "Aponte-Bermudez v. Colon" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed Defendant's conviction of drug trafficking charges, including conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, and Defendant's sentence of 136 months in prison, holding that no reversible error occurred in the proceedings below.Pursuant to a search warrant, federal agents searched Defendant's apartment and found a stolen gun, more than $30,000 in cash, more than a kilo of heroin, and other narcotics and drug paraphernalia. Defendant pleaded guilty to several drug trafficking charges. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that the trial judge did not err by (1) denying Defendant's motion to suppress the evidence from his apartment; (2) denying Defendant's motion to withdraw his guilty plea; (3) deciding not to appoint new counsel and to let Defendant handle his sentencing pro se; and (4) failing to set a lower guideline sentencing range. View "United States v. Gonzalez-Arias" on Justia Law