×
You've used up your 3 free articles for this month. Subscribe today.
Fourth Circuit: Bodily Injury Sentence Enhancement for Robbery Inapplicable Where Victim Sustained ‘Momentary’ Injury and Sought ‘Precautionary’ Medical Treatment
by Jacob Barrett
TheU.S.CourtofAppeals for theFourthCircuitruledadistrictcourtcannot simply“guess”that a victim suffered a qualifying “bodily injury” in connection with a robbery to trigger the two-level, bodily injury sentence enhancement under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines (“Guidelines”) § 2B3.1(b)(3)(A).
MelvinThomasLewisandtwoothersrobbedapawnshop.Lewisstruckthe managerinthebackoftheheadthreetimes,causinghimtofalltothefloor.Thepoliceobserveda“redspot”onthebackofthemanager’s head, and he stated that he felt “dizzy.” He was taken to the hospital ...
Full article and associated cases available to subscribers.
As a digital subscriber to Criminal Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.
Already a subscriber? Login
More from this issue:
- A Guide to Getting the Most Out of a Plea Bargain, by Jacob Barrett
- Second Circuit: District Court Required to Explain Rationale for Reducing Sentence to ‘Time Served’ Under First Step Act but Refused to Reduce Supervised Release Portion of Sentence Despite Being Longer Than New Mandatory Minimum, by Dale Chappell
- What You Need to Know Before Contacting a Conviction Integrity Unit, by Kia Hall Hayes, Marissa Boyers Bluestine
- Study Examines the ‘Black Box’ of Prosecutorial Charging and Plea Bargaining Discretion, by David Reutter
- Man Rejects Plea Deal and Is Sentenced to 110 Years in Colorado Prison for Doing So, by Ashleigh Dye
- Systematic Lying in Plea Bargaining Is a Feature, Not a Flaw, by David Reutter
- Iowa Supreme Court Clarifies When Forensic Interviews of Child Complaining Witnesses Are Admissible, by Douglas Ankney
- Sixth Circuit: Government Violated Plea Agreement by Arguing for Sentence Exceeding Guidelines Range, Despite Promise Not to ‘Suggest in Any Way’ Variance Is Appropriate, by David Reutter
- Tenth Circuit: Where Defendant Actually Sentenced to Drug Treatment and Probation Rather Than 28-32 Months in Prison as Per State Sentencing Guidelines, Conviction Can’t Serve as Predicate ‘Felony’ for 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), by Dale Chappell
- ACLU Report Suggests Disturbing Pattern of Police Surveilling Protests to Identify People Peacefully Protesting Police Brutality
- Plea Bargaining: An Illegitimate System to Administer Justice?, by David Reutter
- First Circuit: Appellate Counsel’s Failure to Raise Brady Claim on Direct Appeal Constituted Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Under Strickland, § 2255 Motion Granted, by Anthony Accurso
- Ending Eyewitness Memory Contamination, by Matthew Clarke
- Fourth Circuit: Bodily Injury Sentence Enhancement for Robbery Inapplicable Where Victim Sustained ‘Momentary’ Injury and Sought ‘Precautionary’ Medical Treatment, by Jacob Barrett
- Iowa Supreme Court Reverses Conviction Where Prosecutor Allowed to Amend Trial Information at Trial to Charge a ‘Wholly New and Different Offense’, by David Reutter
- Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Trial Court Did Not Abuse Discretion by Granting Rule 508 Motion to Dismiss Capital Murder Charge Where State Refused to Disclose Identity of Confidential Informant, by Douglas Ankney
- Vermont Supreme Court Announces Rule 12.1 Doesn’t Require Notice of Diminished Capacity Defense When Expert Testimony Won’t Be Used, by Matthew Clarke
- California Court of Appeal: Hearing on Discretionary Resentencing Under §1170.91(b)(1) for U.S. Servicemembers Requires Only That Petition Allege Defendant ‘May’ Be Suffering From a ‘Qualifying Condition’, by Douglas Ankney
- Fifth Circuit: Aggravated Assault in Texas Does Not Qualify as Aggravated Felony Under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(2), Reentry With Prior Aggravated Felony, by Jacob Barrett
- Massachusetts Supreme Court: Prosecution Failed to Prove Defendant Knowingly, Voluntarily, and Intelligently Waived Right to Counsel After Having Asked for Lawyer Earlier But Officer Continued to Engage in ‘General’ Talk for Nearly 45 Minutes, by Anthony Accurso
- Third Circuit, Joining Every Other Circuit That’s Addressed the Issue, Holds Hobbs Act Robbery Does Not Qualify as ‘Crime of Violence’, by David Reutter
- A ‘Lucky’ Exoneration in Syracuse, by Jayson Hawkins
- Ninth Circuit Announces Irizarry Didn’t Eliminate Wise Requirement That Sentencing Court Provide Notice of Special Conditions of Supervised Release Prior to Imposing Sentence, by Matthew Clarke
- Maryland Prosecutor Covers for FBI Agent’s Lies in Defense of Junk Science, by Jayson Hawkins
- SCOTUS Rejects ‘Opening the Door’ Rule to Correct ‘Misleading Impression’ as Exception to Confrontation Clause Allowing Admission of Unconfronted Testimonial Hearsay, by Richard Resch
- North Dakota Supreme Court Suppresses Evidence Found in Passenger’s Backpack Located Outside Vehicle When Drug-Detection Dog Alerted to Presence of Drugs Inside Vehicle, by Anthony Accurso
- Fear and Freedom Twenty Years Later: How Post 9/11 Security Measures Overstepped Privacy, by Ashleigh Dye
- FBI Program Surveils Subject for 24 Days Using Spy Planes, by Anthony Accurso
- California Court of Appeal Announces Suffering From a Nonqualifying Mental Disorder While Also Suffering From a Qualifying Disorder Does Not Bar Eligibility for Mental Health Diversion Under § 1001.36, by Anthony Accurso
- Google Confirms Increasing Police Reliance on Geofence Warrants, by Anthony Accurso
- Pandemic Pressures Defendants into False Guilty Pleas, by David Reutter
- Search Your Constitution in Vain for the Fourth Amendment—the DOJ Seized It (Stealthily), by Douglas Ankney
- NYPD Using Secret Money for Surveillance Tech, by Anthony Accurso
- Dangers of Data Gathering by Los Angeles Police Department, by Edward Lyon
- Geofencing Warrants Are Putting Civil Rights and Free Speech in Jeopardy, by Dale Chappell
- Oregon Bans Police Lying to Obtain Confessions from Juveniles, by Jacob Barrett
- ‘Possible Cause’ Is All That’s Needed for Geofence Warrants, by Douglas Ankney
- News in Brief
- Police Disparage Philadelphia Citizenry with False Report That SEPTA Riders Stood Idle While Passenger was Raped, by Douglas Ankney
More from Jacob Barrett:
- $120,000 Settlement Reached With Long Island Detainee Assaulted by Jail Guards, July 15, 2023
- $17.675 Million Paid for New Yorker’s Wrongful Conviction, June 15, 2023
- Eighth Circuit Greenlights Arkansas Execution Protocol, June 15, 2023
- Second Circuit Upholds Connecticut Prison Porn Ban, Sets Up Circuit Split Over “Vagueness” Test, June 15, 2023
- Louisiana Sheriff Coughs Up $2.75 Million After Falsely Claiming Detainee Died From Accidental Fall, June 15, 2023
- Nevada Pays Over $568,000 for Denying Prisoner Cataract Surgery, Ends “One Good Eye” Policy, June 15, 2023
- Corizon Bankruptcy Threatens $6.4 Million Award to Family of Michigan Prisoner Whose Five-Day Jail Term Turned Into Death Sentence, June 1, 2023
- Detainee Allegedly “Eaten Alive” by Vermin in Overcrowded Atlanta Jail, May 1, 2023
- Ninth Circuit: Grievance Policy May Excuse Oregon Prisoner’s Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies, May 1, 2023
- Nevada Pays Over $568,000 for Denying Prisoner Cataract Surgery, Ends “One Good Eye” Policy, May 1, 2023
More from these topics:
- Former South Carolina Jailer Spared Prison After Testimony Fails to Convict Former Sheriff, Feb. 15, 2025. Guard Brutality/Beatings, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Sentences - Adjustments and Departures, Offense of Conviction.
- The Murky Waters of Parole, Feb. 1, 2025. Parole/Probation Searches, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Parole Liability, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release.
- Oregon Supreme Court: Governor Can’t Revoke Commutation After Sentence Expires, Jan. 15, 2025. Parole/Probation Searches, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Resentencing, Revocation Proceedings, Overreaching.
- After Florida Appellate Court Holds Crimes of ‘Attempt’ Eligible for Incentive Gain Time, Supreme Court Refuses Review, Jan. 15, 2025. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Conspiracies, Attempts, Solicitations, Attempts/Incomplete Acts, Credits, Sentences - Adjustments and Departures.
- Seventh Circuit Announces Maximum Revocation Sentence for Violation of Supervised Release Based on Classification of Underlying Offense at Time of Conviction, Not at Time of Revocation, Dec. 15, 2024. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Revocation Proceedings.
- California Supreme Court Announces Retroactivity of 2022 Version of Penal Code § 1170 to Upper-Term Sentences Imposed Before Its Enactment, Dec. 15, 2024. Retroactivity, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
- First Circuit Holds Government Breached Plea Agreement by Implicitly Arguing for Upward Variant Sentence by Including Pictures and Video of Defendant That Allegedly Depict His Criminal Tendencies in Sentencing Memo, Dec. 15, 2024. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Grounds for Variance, 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2), Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas, Grounds.
- Fifth Circuit Judges Battle in Louisiana Over-Detention Cases, Dec. 15, 2024. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Overdetention, Credits.
- California Supreme Court Announces Uncharged and Unproven Offense-Specific Enhancements May Not Be Imposed Under § 1172.6(e) Resentencing, Dec. 1, 2024. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Resentencing, Sentence Enhancements/Departures.
- Third Circuit: Despite ‘Expressly and Repeatedly’ Requesting Low-End Sentence, Government Breached Plea Agreement by Emphasizing ‘Heinous’ Nature of Offense and Presenting Victim-Impact Evidence at Sentencing Thereby Undermining Recommendation, Dec. 1, 2024. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Mitigating Role/Circumstances/Evidence, Reduction of Sentence, Proffer Agreements/Statements/Sessions.
